The family of Celeste Manno, who was murdered in her bed at her Melbourne home, has been joined by dozens of others as they demand mandatory life sentences for killers.
Manno was stabbed 23 times by Luay Sako after he used a hammer to smash his way into her Mernda home while she slept in the early hours of November 16, 2020.
The 39-year-old avoided life in prison for her murder, receiving a minimum sentence of 30 years late last month.
Today dozens of Manno’s supporters gathered outside the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House to march to the Supreme Court where Sako was sentenced.
Mannos’s mother Aggie Di Mauro gave a tearful address in which she declared today’s march was to “beg” Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal her killer’s sentence.
She said Victoria’s current laws had failed to deliver justice for her daughter and called for Sako to be given life behind bars.
“This crime deserved a life sentence to Sako, and to serve Celeste justice,” she said.
“We don’t sentence murderers to life in this state…in most states in this country.”
The decision on any appeal for the sentence has to be made by March 28.
Manno and Sako had briefly worked together at a call centre but he began harassing and stalking her after she turned him down romantically.
Despite Manno taking out an intervention order, Lako sent 140 messages from various Instagram accounts over a 12-month period, professing his love for her.
Last month, Manno’s family shook their heads and cried as Supreme Court Justice Jane Dixon sentenced Sako to a maximum of 36 years behind bars.
He will be eligible for parole in 2054 when he will be age 69.
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