ABC News reported Justice Natalie Adams sentenced Daniel Billings to 28 years for the murder of Molly Ticehurst.

Twenty-eight years is the term after the guilty plea, as ABC News printed the discount from 35 years. A notice of intention to appeal, lodged Oct. 9, is not an appeal. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions' later statement is that it will not appeal. Eligible for parole on April 19, 2044, in ABC News, and eligible for parole in April 2044, in the Daily Mail, are not the same date.

ABC News, by Lani Oataway and Hamish Cole, posted Fri 11 Sep 2026 at 11:39am and updated at 5:21pm, with no zone printed on those lines, reported that Daniel Billings, 31, was sentenced in the Orange Supreme Court that day by Justice Natalie Adams to 28 years' jail for the murder of Molly Ticehurst, and that Adams imposed a non-parole period of 20 years. It reported he broke into his ex-partner's Forbes home through a bedroom window just before 11:30pm on April 21, 2024, and stabbed her several times, including to the face and neck. It reported Molly Ticehurst was 28 and a childcare worker, and it described her as a mother of one. That description does not name a child. It reported he pleaded guilty to the offence in November last year. It reported the total sentence Adams handed down was 35 years, discounted to 28 years because of the guilty plea, backdated to April 20, 2024, expiring in 2052, with parole eligibility on April 19, 2044. It reported he stood and nodded as the sentence was read out, while Ms Ticehurst's mother smiled from the public gallery. It reported Adams said the brutal attack fell at the high end of the range for murder, that Billings planned and obsessed over the offence, that he took the day off work, and that he made numerous recordings foreshadowing that he would harm her. It quoted her that by the time he set out on the one-hour drive from Parkes to Forbes, armed with a hunting knife, he planned to kill Ms Ticehurst, and that she rejected any suggestion he just went there to talk to her. It quoted her, "The murder of Molly Ticehurst is a serious murder involving the revenge killing of a woman who made a complaint of domestic violence against him." It reported he was on bail and that an apprehended domestic violence order was in place. The charge list on that bail is not printed here. It reported Adams found his depressive illness was one of the factors contributing to the murder, and that she was unable to be satisfied he suffered from an abnormal state of mind that affected his perception of events and his capacity to exercise proper control. It reported the independent member for Orange and former police prosecutor Phil Donato said the sentence did not provide adequate deterrence, that the case shocked the nation, and that it was the catalyst for changes to domestic violence bail laws in New South Wales. It quoted him, "If I do a domestic violence murder or homicide, I'm going to jail for the rest of my life, not be eligible for parole in less than 20 years." Less than 20 years, in that quotation, and a non-parole period of 20 years, in the sentence, are not the same term. It reported the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will consider the sentence imposed in accordance with the prosecution guidelines. Will consider, on Sept. 11, is not the October decision below.

The Daily Mail, by Stephanie Gardiner for Australian Associated Press, published at 22:08 EDT on Sept. 10, 2026, and updated at 22:11 EDT, reported that Billings stood calm and expressionless when the sentence was handed down in the NSW Supreme Court in Orange on Friday morning. Stood calm and expressionless, in the Daily Mail, and stood and nodded, in ABC News, are not the same description. NSW Supreme Court in Orange, and Orange Supreme Court, are not the same court name on the page. It reported Ms Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare worker, was found dead at her home at Forbes in the early hours of April 22, 2024. Found dead in the early hours of April 22, and a break-in just before 11:30pm on April 21, are not the same clock. It reported he broke into her bedroom and used a hunting knife to stab her 15 times in an attack that lasted less than a minute. Fifteen times, and several times, are not the same count. Less than a minute, and the 59 seconds in the Oct. 12 ABC News story, are not the same figure. It reported he is a 31-year-old former mine worker. Former mine worker is the Daily Mail. It is not in the Sept. 11 ABC News story. It reported Justice Natalie Adams sentenced him to a maximum term of 28 years, and that he will be eligible for parole in April 2044. April 2044, in the Daily Mail, and April 19, 2044, in ABC News, are not the same date. The Daily Mail does not print 35 years, April 20, 2024, or 2052. It reported the murder intensified a national campaign against domestic and gendered violence, and that the movement sparked changes to NSW laws, including stripping registrars of the power to grant bail, show cause thresholds for domestic violence-related bail applications, and electronic monitoring for accused people. A motive clause in that lede is not printed here.

ABC News, by Paulina Vidal, posted Mon 12 Oct 2026 at 10:10pm, with no zone printed on that line, reported that Billings intends to appeal the 28-year sentence handed down in the Orange Supreme Court. Its in-short line says he pleaded guilty to killing Ms Ticehurst in April, 2024. That line reads as a plea in April 2024. The Sept. 11 story says the plea was in November last year and the killing was on April 21, 2024. Those are not the same date. The Oct. 12 story reported he broke in just before 11:30pm on Sunday, April 21, 2024, stabbed her several times with a hunting knife, including to the face and neck, that the incident took just 59 seconds, that her body was discovered the following day, and that he was later arrested more than an hour away in Fifield, north of Condobolin. It quoted a NSW Supreme Court statement, "Daniel Billings filed a notice of intention to appeal [NIA] against the sentence imposed by Justice Adams in Orange on 11 September," and, "The NIA was lodged on the afternoon of Friday, 9 October." It reported that, according to the rules, he has one year to file a notice of appeal. A notice of intention is not an appeal. It reported the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions would not appeal the 28 years with a non-parole period of 20 years, and it quoted a spokesperson, "Having carefully considered the sentence imposed and the circumstances of this case, the ODPP has determined not to institute an appeal against Mr Billing's sentence." Mr Billing's, without the s, is the quotation as ABC News printed it. It reported the office had 28 days following the sentencing to appeal. It reported Phil Donato said, "I thought he got off pretty leniently after pleading guilty," and that the appeal would add more time, more stress, and more trauma for the family. It reported her death turned attention to bail after Billings was granted bail by a court registrar, who is not a judge or magistrate, and that as a response the Minns government strengthened bail laws, including electronic monitoring devices and placing the onus on people accused of domestic violence offences to demonstrate why they should be given bail. The names of the charges on that earlier bail are not printed here. Stripping registrars of the power to grant bail, in the Daily Mail, and a registrar having granted bail, in the Oct. 12 ABC News story, are not the same reform sentence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.