The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions has launched an appeal against the sentence imposed on a remorseless Canberra killer, arguing his jail term is "manifestly inadequate".
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Jayscen Anthony Newby, 27, was last month sentenced to 20 years behind bars for brutally murdering Frankie Victor Prineas in a crime Chief Justice Helen Murrell described as "the most extreme display of jealous and controlling behaviour".
Newby repeatedly stabbed Mr Prineas in a frenzied attack in January 2020 after sneaking into his former partner's Charnwood home and finding her in bed with the unsuspecting victim.
Mr Prineas, 27, was on a Tinder date with Newby's ex and had only met the woman that night.
Newby pleaded guilty to a murder charge, but failed to show any remorse and even laughed over the phone from prison when his mother recounted a news article about the case.
Chief Justice Murrell said in sentencing that the killer had also inexplicably tried to blame his former partner, "making the outrageous claim that she had provoked him".
The judge ordered that Newby serve at least half of his 20-year term before becoming eligible for parole.
But in documents recently filed with the ACT Court of Appeal, prosecutors claim Newby's overall sentence and non-parole period are "manifestly inadequate".
A notice of appeal, signed by Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC, also outlines two further grounds.
One is that Chief Justice Murrell failed to consider a legislative provision that says significant sentence discounts must not be given for guilty pleas entered in the face of an "overwhelmingly strong" prosecution case.
The other alleges the judge "failed to apply the principle that the non-parole period is the minimum period of imprisonment that justice requires to be served".
Mr Prineas' father, Victor Prineas, has previously expressed his family's "total shock" at Newby's sentence.
"[Newby] has lost 10 years of his life," he said last month.
"My son has lost 60 years of his life.
"I can't understand it. I can't work it out."
Should the director's challenge succeed, Newby's jail term would be set aside and he would be resentenced by the Court of Appeal.
The appeal has been listed for directions next Thursday.
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