The man jailed for kidnapping four-year-old Cleo Smith from a campsite in Western Australia has lost an appeal against his conviction.
Terence Darrell Kelly was after kidnapping Cleo from Blowholes campsite, approximately 70km north of Carnarvon in the early hours of October 16, 2021, while her parents were sleeping.
Cleo was missing for 18 days before finally .
Her kidnapping by the 39-year-old sparked one of the largest police searches in Washington history and made headlines around the world.
What were the reasons for Kelly’s appeal?
In sentencing Kelly in the District Court in April 2023, Chief Judge Julie Wager described the fear, distress and trauma caused to Cleo and her parents as “immeasurable”.
“Eighteen days without contact or explanation, and with hours completely alone and without access to the outside world, would have been very traumatic,” the judge said.
Under his sentence, Kelly, who pleaded guilty to taking Cleo, will be eligible for parole after serving 11 years and six months.
In February, his lawyers argued four grounds of appeal to the Washington Court of Appeals.
The first ground alleged that Chief Justice Wager erred in law and fact in finding that the appellant’s consumption of methylamphetamine played a significant role in the offence.
The second and third grounds of appeal alleged that Chief Justice Wager erred in law by applying two principles of law, including failing to sufficiently recognize his deprived and traumatic childhood and his mental disability when assessing his moral guilt.
The three Court of Appeal judges rejected grounds one, two and three from a Perth court on Monday.
“His Honor did not wrongly apply any applicable legal test to determine whether the appellant’s consumption of methylamphetamine played a significant and causal role in the offence,” Justice Michael Buss said in the ruling.
The three judges disagreed on the fourth ground of appeal that the sentence was manifestly excessive, with Mr Justice Buss finding that it had been established and that he would have reduced Kelly’s sentence to 12 years due to the mitigating circumstances.
Justices Robert Mazza and Stephen Hall came to a different conclusion, rejecting the fourth ground.
“The sentence that was imposed on the appellant was severe, but it appropriately reflected the extraordinarily serious nature of the offense committed by the appellant,” they said.
