Cleo Smith’s abductor Terence Darrell Kelly fails to have his jail sentence reduced on appeal

The man who kidnapped four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family’s tent at a remote campsite in Western Australia has failed to have his sentence reduced.

Terence Darrell Kelly has appealed his 13-and-a-half-year prison sentence for abducting the girl in the early hours of October 16, 2021, at the Blowholes campsite, about 70km north of Carnarvon, while her parents slept.

Cleo was missing for 18 days before he was found alone by police in a room of a property in Carnarvon on November 3.

In February, his lawyers argued in the WA Court of Appeal that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

They challenged District Court Judge Julie Wager’s finding that Kelly was significantly affected by methamphetamine when he kidnapped Cleo, and also argued that the sentence did not place sufficient weight on his deprived, traumatic childhood and mental disability.

The three appeal court judges disagreed and dismissed the appeal in Perth on Monday.

Her abduction by the 37-year-old sparked one of the largest police investigations in WA history and made headlines around the world.

Sentencing Kelly in court in April 2023, Chief Judge Julie Wager described the fear, suffering and trauma inflicted on Cleo and her parents as ‘immeasurable’.

Cleo Smith (pictured celebrating her seventh birthday earlier this year) was kidnapped from her family’s campsite and found 18 days later

“Eighteen days without contact or explanation, and for hours completely alone and without access to the outside world, would have been very traumatic,” the judge said.

Under his sentence, Kelly, who pleaded guilty to taking Cleo, will be eligible for parole after serving 11 years and six months.