Double murderer Steven James Hunter has lodged an appeal against his sentence of life without parole for the murder of Sarah Cafferkey in 2012.
Ms Cafferkey’s mother, Noelle Dickson said she was furious over the appeal, which had been lodged by Hunter’s defence team on Thursday.
Hunter, 47, murdered Ms Cafferkey days after his parole expired. He had murdered Jacqueline Mathews in chillingly similar circumstances in 1986.
Steven Hunter after being charged with the murder.Photo: Justin McManus
Ms Cafferkey, 22, was bashed in the head with a hammer and stabbed up to 17 times on the night she died after she argued with her friend Hunter at his Bacchus Marsh unit on November 20.
Hunter joined a small group of inmates who were sentenced to life without parole in Victoria including serial killers John Leslie Coombes, Peter Dupas and Russell Street bomber Stanley Taylor when he was sentenced in August.
“Your murder of Sarah shows you have a propensity for violence from which the community, and especially young women need protection,” Justice Kevin Bell said when sentencing Hunter.
Justice Bell said said the stabbing was “shocking in its ferocity” especially given Sarah, a bubbly, attractive and engaging young woman, had been defenceless.
Hunter later put Sarah’s body in the boot of his car and drove to a house at Point Cook where he placed her in a green wheelie bin.
He poured concrete into the wheelie bin over the body and was later unable to dump the bin in the sea because the concrete had set and it was too heavy.
Ms Dickson said Hunter should be forced to pay for his own appeal, rather than have his defence paid for by Legal Aid.
“Although we expected this so called ‘natural justice’, we are furious that this man who has had an entire life of crime, including abduction, torture and brutally murdering two young innocent girls … is given tax funded legal aid to challenge,” Ms Dickson said.
“Hunter has been provided with legal aid throughout his entire criminal career – if he wants to challenge his sentence then make him pay the legal cost to do so.
“These funds should be used towards rehabilitation programs for criminals with a chance of rehabilitation, not to defend high-risk double-murdering offenders.”
