The decision to uphold Luay Sako’s sentence, which has devastated the family of Celeste Manno, his murder victim, has been made by Victoria’s top prosecutor.
After the 39-year-old Sako was given a 30-year sentence last month, Manno’s family marched to the state legislature steps over the weekend to demand mandatory life sentences for murderers.
It is believed that the Office of Public Prosecutions declined to file an appeal against yesterday’s ruling.
In the early hours of November 16, 2020, Sako used a hammer to break his way into Manno’s Mernda home while she was sleeping.
Manno was then stabbed 23 times by Sako.
Aggie Di Mauro, Mannos’s mother, claimed the state had let her daughter down.
She declared, “I’m disgusted.”
“At that time, the state failed her by failing to protect her.
And now the courts have chosen to let her down once more.
“According to them, she did not deserve to get her justice through a life sentence for him.”
Sako and Manno had briefly collaborated at a call centre, but after she rejected him romantically, he started to harass and hound her.
Over a 12-month period, Lako professed his love for her in 140 messages sent from multiple Instagram identities, even after Manno obtained an intervention order.
Sako was given a maximum term of 36 years in prison by Supreme Court Justice Jane Dixon last month, to the dismay and tears of Manno’s family. When he turns 69 in 2054, he will be qualified for parole.
