![\"Bevan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ea99d04f61584b3be646b52e07628e61f2209337673f130096098b7ee571645a.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
October 12, 2026 \u2014 7:25pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The man whose brutal murder of his former partner triggered a national reckoning on domestic violence plans to appeal against a sentence advocates argued was already too lenient.<\/p>\n Daniel Billings was last month sentenced<\/a> to 28 years in prison for the 2024 knife attack on Forbes childcare worker Molly Ticehurst. He will be eligible for parole in just 18 years, opening the door to freedom before his 50th birthday.<\/p>\n The independent MP for the seat of Orange Phil Donato and state Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane urged the Office of The Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to consider whether there were grounds to appeal against the sentence because it did not reflect the severity of the crime.<\/p>\n The ODPP declined to seek a longer prison term by the deadline of last Friday after it \u201ccarefully considered the sentence imposed and the circumstances of the case\u201d.<\/p>\n However, the Herald can now reveal Billings has lodged his own notice of intention to overturn the sentence.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got a hide,\u201d Donato said on Monday night.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s entitled to appeal, but he\u2019s got a hide to do it because this will just anger the victim\u2019s family and the community. They have all been through enough as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Donato was also critical of the ODPP\u2019s decision to not seek a tougher penalty. \u201cIt was a weak decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Billings broke through Ticehurst\u2019s window in Forbes just before midnight on April 22 and stabbed her more than a dozen times, including in the face and neck, killing her nearly instantly.<\/p>\n He was on bail after Ticehurst had earlier told police Billings had sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her. Billings had also killed her 12-week-old dachshund puppy with a hammer.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to the murder and penned an apology letter in May claiming he was remorseful.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do I feel for what I done? I feel horrible, ashamed I\u2019ve ruined so many lives,\u201d Billings wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a heartless monster like they say, I\u2019m just a human, capable of making mistakes and capable of feelings and emotions and I feel like absolute shit and I\u2019m as sorry as a person can be for what I have done.\u201d<\/p>\n The Crown argued Ticehurst\u2019s death was both a coercive control domestic violence murder and also a public justice offence because Billings had killed a witness. It said he should be the first case since early plea laws were introduced in 2018 to not get a discount.<\/p>\n Justice Natalie Adams ultimately granted him a 20 per cent discount rather than the 25 per cent available.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must have been absolutely terrifying for Ticehurst to die knowing her worst fears were realised,\u201d Adams said last month.<\/p>\n Donato said if Billings was sorry he would not subject Ticehurst\u2019s family to more legal uncertainty.<\/p>\n \u201cI just hope his appeal is unsuccessful,\u201d Donato said.<\/p>\n Billings now has 12 months to advance his notice of intention to appeal.<\/p>\n Related Article The appeal could also be the catalyst for a longer sentence or result in no change.<\/p>\n Asked whether he agreed with the ODPP\u2019s decision not to seek a tougher sentence, NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday told reporters he did.<\/p>\n \u201cIn so much as I worry that it could be reduced from where it was,\u201d Minns said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it was adequate, I think that the judge missed an opportunity to send an unambiguous message, but there\u2019s always the chance that the appeal doesn\u2019t increase the sentence, it decreases, so I can understand the circumstance that the DPP made the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n The Minns government banned registrars from making decisions on major charges following Ticehurst\u2019s murder, and reversed the presumption of bail<\/a> for people charged with serious domestic violence offences.<\/p>\n The government last year passed legislation enshrining a standard non-parole period of 25 years for the murder of a current or former partner, but that is a guide only \u2013 not a mandatory minimum \u2013 and the law was not retrospective, meaning it didn\u2019t apply to Billings.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"Molly](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dc93e9a89656beaadf9c3f7c23d1b601258c5ae0.jpeg\")
Molly Ticehurst was murdered in April 2024.Sharni Tolhurst<\/p>\n![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/8f79ceff8c7de24b06116bceca48a441dd56d0b88912ea927e1deee005c15e92.jpeg\")
Daniel Billings broke into Ticehurst\u2019s Forbes home armed with a hunting knife. <\/p>\n![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791807016_29_8f79ceff8c7de24b06116bceca48a441dd56d0b88912ea927e1deee005c15e92.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Bevan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791807018_259_ea99d04f61584b3be646b52e07628e61f2209337673f130096098b7ee571645a.png\")
Bevan Shields<\/a> is a senior writer, and former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 12, 2026 \u2014 7:25pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-925385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}