A Sydney man jailed for 25 years for stomping on his teenage girlfriend's chest until her heart stopped has lost his appeal over the sentence.
Sean Lee King was sent to jail in 2013 for the drug-fuelled murder of Jazmin-Jean Ajbschitz at her inner-city apartment in July 2011.
In a ferocious attack, King hit and kicked the 18-year-old, dragged her around and stomped on her chest, causing injuries one expert witness likened to those seen in high-speed car crashes.
King, who initially admitted to killing Ms Ajbschitz but pleaded not guilty on the grounds he was high on the drug ice at the time, claimed his sentence was "manifestly excessive".
He submitted that Justice Geoffrey Bellew gave insufficient weight to his prospects of rehabilitation and erred in deeming his ice intoxication an aggravating factor.
But his appeal was dismissed in a unanimous decision on Wednesday.
While King did appear genuinely remorseful, he had failed to go through with previous pledges to kick his ice habit and undergo rehabilitation, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found.
The court also agreed with the original decision that King's drug use was an aggravating factor, saying he continued to use even though he knew it made him violent.
Given the "exceptionally violent" nature of the murder, Ms Ajbschitz's "terror and suffering" and King's limited prospects of rehabilitation, the sentence was not manifestly excessive, the court held.
King is eligible for parole in April 2037.
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