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Sarah Cafferkey's murderer Steven James Hunter loses appeal for reduced sentence

Sarah Cafferkey's body was found nine days after she was murdered.

Sarah Cafferkey's body was found nine days after she was murdered.


The man convicted of the murder of Melbourne woman Sarah Cafferkey has lost his bid to have is life sentence reduced.

Steven James Hunter,48, stabbed and bashed 22-year-old Cafferkey to death in November 2012 at his unit in Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne, after an argument.

Police found her body in a wheelie bin at a home at Point Cook, in Melbourne's outer-west, nine days later.

Last year Hunter was sentenced to life in jail without parole.

At the time, Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bell called Hunter a "serious violent offender" and said he would remain a threat even in old age.

Hunter, a user of methamphetamine, had just finished serving parole before he killed Cafferkey.

He also has an extensive criminal history, including a previous conviction for murdering another young woman.

In 1986, Hunter was sentenced to a maximum of 16 years' jail for stabbing 18-year-old schoolgirl Jacqueline Cecilia Mathews seven times in the throat and heart, before burning her body in a car under the Arundel Road bridge in Keilor.

Mother relieved, but questions appeals process

Cafferkey's mother Noelle Dickson said there was cheering from family and friends in the courtroom when the decision was reached.

"I'm very relieved that this is all over and he can never hurt another young girl," Ms Dickson told the ABC.

It didn't make sense at all. As far as I'm concerned it was a waste of tax-payers money.
Noelle Dickson, Sarah Cafferkey's mother

"It actually took a little while for it to sink in for me because I just found it very hard to take it in.

"I was probably out of the courtroom before it hit me and then I just broke down in tears. Oh it was a relief, it was a relief that it was over."

But Ms Dickson said the appeal was a waste of time and money, and the appeals system needed an overhaul.

Victoria's Court of Appeal rejected Hunter's first appeal against his indefinite sentence in December 2013.

He then took his case to the High Court, where his lawyers argued the indefinite sentence imposed on him was excessive.

"His [Hunter's] claims were ridiculous," Ms Dickson said.

"The previous justices had covered everything, and they were really grasping at straws. The whole thing just seemed a farce.


"Sarah has lost her life. She has been given a life sentence; I have been given a life sentence.

"Now Hunter has been given a life sentence. I doesn't go away, and it's just horrific when you listen to them discuss his rights and what he should be entitled to.

"It has worked for us, because it is a finality now and he will never be released, but I find the whole process itself really needs to be addressed."

Friday's ruling means Hunter has no further avenue of appeal.

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