The rehabilitation of teenage driver who received a two-year jail term after he crashed his car killing four of his mates will be hampered if he has to serve time in an adult prison, his lawyers say.
The 20-year-old, who cannot be named, was the sole survivor of the crash south of Byron Bay, in northern NSW, on October 22, 2006.
His four friends - Paul Morris, Corey New, Mitchell Eveleigh, all 16 and Bryce Wells, 17 - were all killed.
On Wednesday, he appealed to the Sydney Court of Criminal Appeal for a sentence reduction.
He is currently serving his sentence in juvenile detention but is set to be moved to an adult jail when he turns 21 in April.
"Our focus has been on his rehabilitation," his solicitor, Ralph James, told journalists outside the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"We fear that, even with the best endeavours, going into an adult jail where deterrence or correction is the focus he may lose the benefit of all the significant rehabilitation that has happened so far."
His barrister, Nicolas Harrison, asked the court to reduce his client's sentence by just over three months so he could complete the term in juvenile detention.
The court has reserved its decision.
If his appeal is unsuccessful, he will eligible for release in January 2011.
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