Teen killer pleads guilty after stabbing Brit mum Emma Lovell, 41, to death on Boxing Day in horror home invasion
A TEENAGE boy has pleaded guilty to the horror stabbing of a Brit mum on Boxing Day 2022 in Australia.
Emma Lovell, 41, died after she and her husband Lee, 43, were knifed at their home as they bravely fought off two teens who broke in.
The brave mum-of-two, originally from Ipswich, tried to defend their home from burglars while the couple’s two daughters inside.
A “scuffle” broke out on the front porch and neighbours heard one of her daughters screaming “someone help my mum, help my mum”.
Emma was knifed in the chest and later died from her injuries.
Lee was released from hospital after a non-life threatening stab wound.
Cops charged two 17-year-olds over Emma’s murder, and in Brisbane’s Supreme Court today one of them pleaded guilty.
He also pleaded guilty to burglary, assault occasioning bodily harm and malicious act with intent.
The teenager spoke in court only to give his plea, and shook his head silently when asked if he’d like to say anything else.
Lee attended the court hearing, sitting at the back, and refused to comment afterwards.
Emma was the glue to my family, she was such a beautiful person. We are all just devastated by her loss, it’s senseless
Lee Lovell
The teen accused of Emma’s murder was also charged with stabbing Lee in the back and kicking him in the face while he lay on the ground.
He is set to be sentenced in May and the other teenage boy is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
At the time cops arrested four teenage boys near the family’s Brisbane home just four hours after the burglary.
Two 17-year-olds were then charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder.
And two more boys, 17 and 16, were assisting cops in their investigation.
Detectives confirmed all four teenagers were “known to police”.
And locals at the time feared Emma’s murder could be linked to teenage gangs who had been terrorising homes amid a spate of brutal burglaries.
Emma and Lee moved from Suffolk to Australia with their two daughters more than 12 years ago.
The family had spent Christmas Day that year at the beach on the Sunshine Coast and shared a smiling family pic online.
They wrote on Facebook: “Hope everyone has a great Christmas Day spent with loved ones and friends.”
Around 11.30pm on Boxing Day evening the intruders disturbed Lee and Emma at home.
Cops said the family were “woken by barking dogs” before “defending their house”.
Explaining how the horror unfolded, Lee said: “We heard our two dogs barking, Emma checked on our security app and saw the front door was open.
“We both rushed out of our bedroom door, Emma behind me, and saw two people in our house.
“I didn’t even know there was an issue until my daughter spotted that her mum was bleeding.”
The devastated dad paid a sweet tribute to his wife after her death, saying she “died trying to protect me and our family“.
He told reporters: “Emma was the glue to my family, she was such a beautiful person.
“We are all just devastated by her loss, it’s senseless.”
The dad said at the time that he initially thought his wife was going to survive her injuries after the attack.
But he recalled the “major shock” hours later when he found out she had died.
He had to then deliver the heartbreaking news to his daughters after one of them asked: “Where’s mummy?”
Just screaming really, of the two young girls. “Someone help my mum, help my mum”
Jay Balhatchet
Neighbour Jay Balhatchet, who witnessed paramedics helping Emma on the front lawn, said the neighbourhood woke to screams.
He said: “Just screaming really, of the two young girls. ‘Someone help my mum, help my mum’.”
“That’s pretty much when everyone got up, and that’s when they all saw it happen on the front lawn.”
He later saw the couple’s children “carrying their dogs and stuff to the ambulance that their dad was in”.
The family’s neighbour added: “They went off with him. I think they were in shock. They were in tears.”
Christina Lofthouse, 41, Emma’s best friend of 33 years, also paid tribute, describing her as “the best friend a girl could have”.
She said: “She was the first person I messaged in the morning and the last person I spoke to at night.
“I’m utterly heartbroken that my best friend is gone and I don’t get to speak to her again, hug her again, laugh with her and cry with her.
“Her poor daughters, husband, mum, brother and sister. As a family we are heartbroken to lose the best friend a girl could have. We had a friendship like no other.”
Timeline of the Boxing Day horror
EMMA Lovell was stabbed on Boxing Day 2022 and later died from her injuries. Her husband Lee survived a non-lethal stabbing injury and their two daughters witnessed the horror events.
The family had spent Christmas Day that year at the beach on the Sunshine Coast.
They shared a smiley pic on Facebook of their day and wrote: “Hope everyone has a great Christmas Day spent with loved ones and friends.”
Around 11.30pm the next evening, intruders disturbed the family at home.
Cops said the parents were “woken by barking dogs”.
Lee said Emma checked their security app and saw the front door was open.
The couple then rushed from their bedroom and saw two people in the home, sparking a scuffle on the front porch where Emma was stabbed.
She later died in hospital, and Lee survived.
Four hours later cops arrested four teenage boys nearby, and later charged two of them with offences of murder and attempted murder.
Today one of the 17-year-old’s appeared in Brisbane Supreme Court to plead guilty to murder.
According to previous 7News reports, one of the boys charged with murder was arrested on Christmas Eve and charged with multiple offences.
He was then released on bail on Boxing Day despite police objections – hours before Emma was killed.
One of the boys involved was also reportedly responsible for the stabbing of a man at another home in Brisbane in 2021.
He was charged with attempted murder, sentenced and since released from custody.
The social media of gangs active in the area at the time were filled with gang signs and photos of themselves posing with machetes, cash and drugs and brags about their crimes.
And the Courier Mail said one of the teens allegedly involved in the Boxing Day murder posted videos of himself and others driving around in luxury stolen cars just days before her death.
The group filmed themselves hitting speeds of up to 130mph before posing in front of an Audi and a Porsche using gang signs and holding up fistfuls of cash.
The most recent video was shared on social media just a week ago.
The four boys linked to the murder were also living in a nearby halfway house for youth offenders – and had been causing trouble in the weeks before, according to the Daily Mail.