Overview
- Chief Justice Helen Bowskill imposed a 16-year term after the now 17-year-old pleaded guilty to murder, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and stealing.
- The judge ordered a 60% custodial service requirement, placing the teenager’s projected release in 2033 after credit for time already served.
- Both sides accepted a finding that the crime was particularly heinous; prosecutors sought 17–18 years while the defence argued for 12–13 years.
- The court heard the offender went to the Redbank Plains centre armed and masked to steal a car, fatally stabbing White as her young granddaughter looked on, with emotional victim impact statements read aloud.
- White’s killing became a touchstone for Queensland’s ‘adult crime, adult time’ youth justice changes that do not apply retrospectively, and her family condemned the sentence as the government said it would consider an appeal.