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.

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“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.