 In late October 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that the sentences of Blessington (then 14) and Elliott (16) breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.The Committee asked the Australian Government to "review the case and remedy the human rights breach".In February 2016, Blessington lodged an appeal to be released from prison given he was only 14 at the time he committed the murder.