- Trent Thorburn said his four-year sentence for incest and perjury is ‘excessive’
- He has been in custody since being charged in September 2016
- Thorburn was due to be released from prison on January 20 next year
- But he wants to be released on bail as he appeals the sentence
Trent Thorburn is hoping to be released on bail as he appeals his four-year sentence for incest and perjury relating to his foster sister Tiahleigh Palmer.
Thorburn has been in custody since he was charged in September 2016 with having sex with the 12-year-old in the days before her death.
He was also charged with lying to a Crime and Corruption Commission hearing into the schoolgirl’s alleged murder in June 2016.
The court heard Thorburn (pictured) admitted his sexual relationship with Tiahleigh in a Facebook messenger conversation with his cousin
The court heard Thorburn, then 18, had sex with Tiahleigh (pictured) at least once during the weeks leading up to her death in late October 2015
Following Tiahleigh’s death, Thorburn repeatedly denied having had sex with her to police as well as denying he knew anything about her murder
Thorburn was sentenced in the Beenleigh District Court on Thursday to four years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including incest.
He was due to be released from prison on January 20 next year when his sentence is to be suspended for five years.
The 20-year-old is now seeking to be released on bail as he appeals his ‘manifestly excessive’ sentence.
Trent Thorburn, the foster brother of slain Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, has admitted to having a sexual relationship with the 12-year-old
Mother of the murdered schoolgirl Cindy Palmer (second right), with friends and family outside the Beenleigh District Court
Police allege the 12-year-old was murdered by her foster father Richard Thorburn (pictured)
His bail application is set to be heard in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday.
Tiahleigh’s body was found on the banks of a Gold Coast river on November 5, 2015, six days after she was allegedly murdered by her foster father Rick Thorburn.
Foster mother Julene Thorburn is due to be sentenced on November 3 for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The Thorburn’s other son, Joshua, was sentenced in July to three months behind bars for lying to investigators.