Attorney-General Greg Smith's soft serve up to NSW's violent crime: pre-election promised laws on violence were never delivered The family of king hit victim Simon Cramp fears his attacker will get off easy, after Kieran Loveridge was given only four years for the manslaughter of Thomas Kelly Attorney-General Greg Smith / Digitally altered image Source: DailyTelegraph THOMAS Kelly's killer could have received a higher sentence if laws promised by Attorney-General Greg Smith before the election - and never introduced - were delivered on. Under the promised laws, victims' impact statements could have been taken into account in the sentencing of homicide cases, but they were never introduced. Mr Smith's office told The Daily Telegraph yesterday he did not introduce the laws because victims' support groups did not support them - an assertion vehemently denied by several groups. The Attorney-General, dubbed Marshmallow Man for his soft approach on crime, also faced a revolt yesterday in the Coalition party room over his "one punch laws" proposed in the wake of the Kelly killing with several Liberal MPs telling him the laws, which contain a 20-year maximum penalty instead of 25 years for manslaughter, might lead to even more lenient sentences. Thomas Kelly / Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied In Justice Stephen Campbell's sentencing judgment last week, where he sentenced killer Kieran Loveridge to four years for manslaughter over the one-hit killing of Mr Kelly last July, the judge specifically said he was "constrained by law" from taking the Kelly family's victim impact statements into account. Instead, he mentioned the "remorse" shown by Loveridge in crying as the statements were read out during the sentencing. In March 2011, Mr Smith promised in a press release to legislate so courts could use victim statements in "determining an offender's sentence" in homicide matters, saying "for too long only lip service has been paid to the voices of family members of murder victims." But he has failed to act since being elected the same month and a spokeswoman said yesterday that was because "the vast majority of stakeholders, including the Homicide Victims Support Group, did not support the proposal ..." Kieran Loveridge being led away from the Supreme Court. But homicide victims' advocate Howard Brown denied this: "We believe victim impact statements should be taken into account in sentencing in all matters, not just homicide." Enough is Enough founder Ken Marslew agreed, saying there was a discussion at the Victims' Advisory Board where concerns were expressed about a possible disadvantage to people who didn't have relatives to give the statements but "there was nothing finalised." The head of the Homicide Victims Support Group, Martha Jabour, said that while she was opposed to "mandatory victim impact statement laws," she would favour legislation to see them taken into account by judges. Mr Smith raised the ire of MPs by reportedly telling them he knew more about criminal law than they did. Irate backbencher Ray Williams said there should be mandatory minimum sentences and he and Peter Phelps pressed the point the new laws could actually lead to more lenient sentences. Mr Williams said: "Let me get this straight, what you are going to come up with is a charge that is less than the manslaughter charge?" Mr Smith is said to have replied: "Not everybody who throws a punch at somebody intends to kill them." A spokeswoman for Mr Smith said he did not ``comment on party room discussions, except to say that your source is wrong. LESS than a week after king-hit killer Kieran Loveridge was sentenced to four years jail for Thomas Kelly's death, one of his friends has been jailed for 18 months for providing false information to police during their investigation. The man, 18, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was yesterday sentenced to 18 months jail with a non-parole period of six months after the court heard he worked with Loveridge to "concoct" a story about their movements on the night Kelly was killed in order to mislead police. The court also heard that, on the night of Mr Kelly's death in July last year, he had stolen a knife from a Subway fast food store with the intention of using it on a security guard he had argued with earlier and assaulted another man with Loveridge. Kieran Loveridge's friend, who was sentenced to six months jail for lying to police about Thomas Kelly's death. In sentencing, Magistrate Jeffrey Hogg found that, while the offender was entitled to be heard under the juvenile justice system, the charges were "extraordinarily serious." "Telephone transcripts show the young man was highly aware of the criminality of his actions," Mr Hogg said. He ordered the conviction be recorded on the offender's adult record. Mr Hogg said that "the young person has had his chances to be dealt with in the juvenile justice system" on two other occasions, both relating to violent offences. "The young person clearly needs anger management counselling," he said. The man had pleaded guilty and gave no outward reaction to the prison term before being hugged by his mother and father and led away to begin his sentence. Mr Hogg cited from transcripts of phone intercepts detailing conversations between the accused, Loveridge, and other youths present on the night, most of them heavily using "pig-Latin" or "double-Dutch" slang. PAEDOPHILES are spending an average of only two years in jail, Attorney-General Greg Smith revealed in state parliament yesterday. Mr Smith said the sentences doled out to child sex offenders were appalling and had concerned him for some time. But instead of acting on it, he deferred it to a parliamentary committee in August. Mr Smith announced the Sentencing Council's preliminary findings - which are being considered by the committee - to parliament. He said sentences for paedophiles ranged from about 20 per cent to 80 per cent of the maximum jail term, "without any clear logic" why. "Victims in child sexual assault cases are the most vulnerable members of our society and we need to do our utmost to protect them," he said. How are their interests served by sentences such as these, which are clearly out of step with what the community expects? The Sentencing Council has proposed a uniform percentage of the maximum jail term for all offences. Mr Smith told parliament that if this meant a reduction in jail time for paedophiles and other serious offenders "the government would need to be strongly convinced before we would consider adopting (it) ." Opposition Leader John Robertson said yesterday he would back tougher sentences for child sex offenders. Mr Smith also introduced legislation to parliament yesterday to allow more people to appeal against their sentences on the basis of DNA results. Previously, DNA appeals were available only to those jailed for 20 years or more, generally murderers. Mr Smith backtracked from last month's initial cabinet proposal, which would also have allowed DNA appeals for "anyone convicted of sexual assault and sexual intercourse with a child." The bill before the Coalition partyroom yesterday did not include this section, instea d saying DNA appeals would only be allowed in "other special circumstances."