Second teenager acquitted of murdering British woman in Australia

A man has been found guilty of murdering a British woman who was stabbed to death during a break-in at her home in Australia.

Emma Lovell, 41, was killed in North Lakes, Queensland, on Boxing Day 2022 while fighting off two attackers.

The mother died from a single stab wound to the heart and another man, who cannot be named because he was under 18 at the time of the attack, was jailed for 14 years in May after pleading guilty to her murder .

A second man, who was 17 at the time of the attack and cannot be named, appeared in the Brisbane Supreme Court last week.

Judge Michael Copley, who tried the case without a jury, on Thursday found the man not guilty of murder, as well as malicious intent and unlawful wounding.

He found the defendant guilty of robbery and assault.

“I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was an accessory to this murder,” the judge said.

Ms Lovell emigrated to Australia from Suffolk in 2011 with her husband Lee, who survived the attack, and two daughters.

In his sentencing remarks at the original trial, Judge Tom Sullivan said Mrs Lovell was described as a “vigorous and beloved mother, wife, daughter and sister”.

The court heard the couple tried to fight off the intruders after being awakened by barking dogs at around 11.30pm.

Mr Lovell was injured during a “fight right outside the front door” which then spilled onto the front lawn where his wife was fatally shot.