The mother of a NSW woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend has welcomed prosecutors’ decision to appeal his sentence, describing it as a “small step in a long journey”.

Tyrone Thompson, 25, stabbed 21-year-old Mackenzie Anderson 78 times with two kitchen knives over two minutes at her Newcastle apartment in March 2022.

His punishment for the brutal murder, committed 16 days after his release on parole for intimidating the Mayfield woman and destroying her property, was 22 years and six months, with a non-parole period of 15 years and six months.

The sentence appalled Anderson’s mother, Tabitha Acret, who last night told 9News Premier Chris Minns’ office had been in touch to let her know the Director of Public Prosecutions would launch an appeal this week.

“This is obviously something we were really hoping for,” she said.

“We’re very, very happy with this but it’s a small step in a long journey that we’ve got ahead of us.”

Acret said the day she found out Anderson had died was the worst day of her life but the day of Thompson’s sentencing was the second worst.

“That was a complete and utter shock,” she said.

“I was overwhelmed with emotion when I left the courtroom. I actually collapsed. I fainted. 

“I was just so overwhelmed with that information. That anyone could think that that sentence was appropriate for what we’d seen.”

In sentencing Thompson, Justice Richard Weinstein described a frenzied attack of such ferocity that one of the two kitchen knives he used had snapped.

But he reduced the standard minimum sentence of 20 years for murder in NSW to 15 years and six months because of the murderer’s “special circumstances”.

The judge said Thompson’s significant mental health issues, the domestic violence he suffered as a child at the hands of his violent, schizophrenic, drug-addled father, his difficult schooling, exposure to drugs and sexual abuse by a teacher had diminished his moral culpability. 

Thompson was diagnosed with a complex post-traumatic stress disorder and severe personality disorder but was not considered psychotic when he murdered his former partner.

He pleaded guilty in April, having previously been set to stand trial, and wrote a letter of remorse to the judge, claiming the pair had struggled with a knife and when his hand was cut “something inside me lost control”.

The murderer and his victim had been involved in a DV-marred, on-again-off-again relationship since 2019. He ignored an apprehended domestic violence order banning him from contacting her when he broke into her apartment and killed her.

Acret said the appeal would be retraumatising but she wanted to avoid the sentence setting a precedent for future cases, noting her horror at the number of women who had contacted her since the court proceedings to share their own DV situations.

“I think it wasn’t until I got home [from the court after the sentencing] and sat down and let it sink in that I realised that it wasn’t just horrific for our family, but it’s horrific for women across Australia,” the grieving mother said.

“To receive zero for the breaches of avo is extremely scary, the precedent that sets, and how fearful women out there must be feeling right now, how this makes women feel.

“It’s really, really big, and this is much bigger than my family and my daughter and I have to keep fighting because I have to try and protect other women.”