The NSW State Parole Authority will hold a public hearing on Thursday for further submissions after the board in February formed its intention to release Kieran Loveridge.
The now-30-year-old killed Thomas Kelly, 18, during an alcohol-fuelled rampage through the inner-city entertainment precinct of Kings Cross in July 2012.
Thomas Kelly died after an unprovoked assault in Kings Cross. (HANDOUT/NSW POLICE)
Loveridge, who was also 18 at the time, punched Mr Kelly in the face, knocking him to the ground and causing a severe brain injury when his head struck the ground.
He was initially jailed for seven years and two months after pleading guilty to manslaughter and the assaults of four other men on that same night.
But his sentence was increased following a prosecution appeal, after which he was handed a maximum term of 13 years and eight months with a non-parole period of 10 years and two months.
"This was a grave offence of manslaughter committed by an offender with a history of violent offences who was subject to conditional liberty at the time," the three appeal judges noted in 2014.
"(His) attack upon Mr Kelly was cowardly and unprovoked," they added, finding that Loveridge's initial sentence was manifestly inadequate.
Loveridge, whose non-parole period expired in June, had a previous release bid knocked back in April 2023 after a recommendation that it would not be appropriate for the protection of the community.
Both the Serious Offenders Review Council and Community Corrections supported his release during the parole authority's recent meeting, in February.
Following Mr Kelly's death and in response to campaigning from his parents and the media, the NSW government introduced legislation that included mandatory sentences for some offences involving alcohol and the since-repealed lockout laws for central Sydney venues.
Loveridge had a month added to his sentence in 2020 over an assault that occurred while he was in jail.
The sentencing judge noted he had "achieved a degree of notoriety" due to Mr Kelly's death and the subsequent lockout laws.
His victim's family started the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation aimed at reducing street violence in 2013.
Stuart Kelly (centre) took his own life, four years after his brother's death. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)
Mr Kelly's younger brother Stuart took his own life in 2016 and the foundation has since evolved into a registered company, Stay Kind, incorporating the initials of both teenagers and aimed at promoting harm reduction through kindness.
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