O'Farrell to Introduce Tough New King Hit Laws (NSW)
Monday 11 November 2013 @ 8.36 a.m. | Crime
Offenders who kill with a king-hit could be jailed for up to 10 years under tough new laws to be introduced by the NSW government.
The change comes following community outrage over the four-year sentence given to Thomas Kelly's killer Kieran Loveridge on Friday. Following the decision, NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith immediately announced he had asked the NSW DPP to consider an appeal
Premier Barry O'Farrell is expected to introduce the legislation this week. It is reported that the legislation will see a new offence being created to replicate Western Australia's unlawful assault causing death laws, which remove the requirement to prove the assailant knew the punch would be fatal. The change will mean prosecutors won't have to plead down from murder to manslaughter in fatal assault cases to ensure a conviction.
This was key to the NSW DPP's decision to charge Loveridge with manslaughter instead of murder, after he offered to plead guilty to the lesser charge.
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