Australian teenager denied sentence reduction for killing 19-year-old man
An Australian Court of Appeal has rejected a request by a teenager from Brisbane to reduce his prison term for the murder of 19-year-old Abdullahi Ahmed Iyow in the Acacia Ridge area. The convicted offender was 17 at the time of the attack, so his name has not been disclosed under Queensland youth justice laws.
As ABC News reports, in May 2024, the young man stabbed Iyow with a large hunting knife in the arm, hand and leg, as well as three times in the abdominal area. The victim was taken to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was placed on life support. He died from his injuries on June 18.
A 12-year sentence
In April 2025, the court sentenced the teenager to 12 years in prison and ordered that he serve at least 70% of the term before he could be released. The judge found the attack to be particularly serious because it was effectively unprovoked.
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According to police, they were walking to a park and had an argument before the attack. The teenager later told police that he stabbed Iyow over a phone that Iyow had broken earlier that day. He said that because of the phone damage, he lost contacts connected to drug dealing.
Appeal dismissed
In July, the teenager applied to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the crime should not have been considered particularly serious. The defence also argued that the judge had failed to take into account the convicted offender's steps toward rehabilitation and that the requirement to serve 70% of the 12-year sentence was excessive.
A panel of judges David Boddice, Shane Doyle and Debra Mullins jointly dismissed the application and left the original sentence unchanged.
