Terence Kelly fails in bid to reduce sentence for abducting Cleo Smith from family tent in remote WA
ABCA man who abducted a four-year-old child and held her captive at his home for more than two weeks has lost his appeal to have his sentence reduced. They also maintained the sentencing judge erred in finding Kelly's use of methamphetamine had a "significant and causal role in the offending". In sentencing, WA District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager said Kelly's actions were at the "highest level of seriousness" and that Cleo and her family would be "permanently impacted". While all justices agreed unanimously on three of the four grounds of appeal, the president of the court, His Honour Michael Buss, said he would have granted Kelly's appeal on the ground that the sentence was "manifestly excessive". Abduction sparked huge search Kelly's abduction of Cleo hit international headlines and caused uproar in the small WA town of Carnarvon, some 900 kilometres north of Perth.
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Cleo Smith: Man who was wrongly identified as suspect sues TV station
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