A great nephew of backpacker murderer Ivan Milat has lost a High Court fight against his 43-year jail sentence for murdering his friend with an axe.
Matthew Milat sought to appeal against his minimum 30-year term for killing his friend David Auchterlonie in the Belanglo State Forest, the same forest where his serial killer relative dumped the bodies of his victims in the early 1990s.
It was David's 17th birthday when he was killed in 2010.
Milat's legal team argued before the full High Court bench that his time behind bars should be reduced because of the disparity between his sentence and that of his accomplice, Cohen Klein, who had his term cut by two years to a minimum of 20 by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.
But the full bench declined to give Milat permission to proceed with his appeal, saying a decision to hand down different sentences was open to the sentencing judge.
"On its face, the exercise of discretion was open to the sentencing judge," Chief Justice Robert French said.
"Special leave will be refused."
Grandmother Sandra Auchterlonie said she clapped as the decision came down.
"Justice prevailed," David's grandfather, also called David, said outside court.
"Thirty years down the track, I won't be around, but I hope the people that are around refuse then.
"That's all you can hope for."
David would be 21 this November.
His mother Donna Lock said she held a little birthday party for her son every year.
"They deserve life, never to be let out ever again, but obviously we can't get that," she said, as she wiped away tears.
"They should accept their sentences, just like we had to accept what happened ...
"To a certain extent it'll be closure, but we'll never be the same without him.
"They can get out at whatever time but David's never coming back."
In sentencing Milat in the NSW Supreme Court in 2012, Acting Justice Jane Mathews noted the then-teenager's "admiration" of the criminality of his great-uncle.
The day after the axe murder, Milat gloated, saying: "You know me, you know my family. You know the last name Milat. I did what they do."
The judge said an audio recording of the murder revealed that for the last 10 minutes of David's life, when he was already seriously injured, he was "subjected to unimaginable torment by Milat".
After the killing Milat said: "That was such an adrenaline rush" and Klein replied: "I told you that you're going to go down the same path as your uncle."
Milat will not walk free until 2040 at the earliest.
