Thirteen years after the murder of her son Daniel, Denise Morcombe can finally say two words: "Never again."
Never again will she and her husband Bruce have to see the inside of a courtroom or hear about how Brett Peter Cowan took their son from them.
Cowan's last-ditch appeal bid to the High Court was rejected on Friday, a three-judge bench finding there were insufficient grounds for it to reconsider his conviction.
For the Sunshine Coast schoolboy's parents, who had spent Thursday afternoon at his grave, it marked a final chapter in the sad story of their child's death.
"It is a very sad story. At least we have got a full stop to that," Bruce said.
"I think people can sleep well tonight, other than Mr Cowan himself."
The pair's diary will no longer be dotted with upcoming court dates now Cowan's legal avenues of appeal have been exhausted.
Instead, their schedule is packed with programs for the child safety foundation they set up to honour Daniel's memory.
Keeping Cowan behind bars means they can finally be free of the spectre of their son's killer.
"Throw the key away and I never want to hear that name again," Denise tweeted.
Instead the name that would endure would be that of their boy.
"Daniel's name is on everybody's lips," Bruce said.
"Don't forget him. Don't forget his legacy."
The development comes two years after Cowan was sentenced to life in prison for Daniel's 2003 murder.
Lawyers for the 46-year-old applied for special leave to appeal to the High Court after he failed to have the conviction overturned in the Queensland Court of Appeal last May.
But the bench was unconvinced by the argument mounted by Cowan's lawyer, Peter Callaghan SC, that his client's treatment at a coronial inquest into Daniel's death had been flawed.
He said questions directed at Cowan by the counsel assisting had acted as either a threat or promise centring around his need to have an alibi to clear him as a suspect in Daniel's murder.
"It is a threat in that it evoked fear that unless he could account for his whereabouts he would be the subject of the prejudice of continued attention," Mr Callaghan said.
Those "inducements" had played on Cowan's mind when he made a subsequent confession to undercover police posing as criminal gang members, who had offered to buy him an alibi, he argued.
But his opponent, Michael Byrne QC, said while the counsel's manner was robust, it was accepted the inquest was conducted lawfully.
The bench ultimately agreed, finding Cowan was "vigorously encouraged" to tell the truth but not improperly influenced at the inquest.
Outside court lawyer Tim Meehan, who had also acted for Cowan, said the convicted killer had been stoic throughout and wouldn't be able to complain about his treatment by the justice system.
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