Update: While Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk implied the offender was on bail at the time, that fact has been called into question and, according to The Australian, this is what Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd reportedly said on Thursday afternoon: “I understand that there’s been some initial reports about the juvenile being on bail for a large number of offences. I can advise that some of that reporting is not accurate but unfortunately I am not able to go into any great detail about any history or any interaction that juvenile may have with any authorities.”

The aunt of a pregnant woman who was killed alongside her partner in a horror crash in Brisbane’s Alexandra Hills on Australia Day has made a desperate plea for the Queensland government to toughen its youth offending laws.

Kate Leadbetter, 31, and her partner Matty Field, 37, were out walking their dogs on Tuesday afternoon when they were hit by an allegedly stolen Toyota LandCruiser, which police allege had slammed into a truck at speed and rolled. The couple and their unborn child died at the scene.

The driver of the stolen vehicle, a 17-year-old male, has since been charged with two counts of murder and a raft of other offences, and could face a third murder change for the death of the couple’s unborn baby, news.com.au reports.

It’s also been reported that the teen was out on bail when Tuesday’s horrific car crash happened, and was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, The Australian reports.

Kate’s aunt Danielle Leadbetter has since spoken out about the tragic incident, remembering her niece as “everything that’s beautiful in this world”.

“I remember Kate as my flower girl,” she said on Wednesday night during a roadside vigil, news.com.au reports. “That was my nicest memory of Kate. And it’s hard to believe that someone doing such a selfish act could take someone’s life.”

Danielle also called on Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk to reform the state’s youth offending laws “so young offenders aren’t let out on bail and they can not go and leave families traumatised”.

“Enough is enough,” she continued.

“It’s 2021 and here we are again — two young lives are lost for a moment of thrills. Queenslanders need to get mad. No more loss of lives and no more families being killed because young offenders want a moment of fame.”

Palaszczuk has since weighed in on the matter, saying the incident was an “absolute tragedy”.

“No one should go out for a walk and not return home,” she told reporters Thursday morning, The Australian reports. “It is horrific and we want answers. The family wants answers, the community wants answers and I want answers.”

The premier went on to say that she would consider further tightening the state’s bail laws in a bid to prevent something like this happening again.

“If they need to be tightened and strengthened, of course we will do that,” she said. “Last year, we tightened up those laws where there was a presumption against bail. We tightened those laws, so there’s questions that need to be asked about why those laws weren’t adhered to.”