Vic killer's sentence 'unprecedented'

A Victorian court has heard Sarah Cafferkey's murderer is facing an "unprecedented" sentence. Source: AAP

A VICTORIAN double murderer is serving a jail term of "unprecedented magnitude" by being denied the chance of parole, a court has heard.

Steven James Hunter, 47, has been sentenced to life with no parole for the stabbing death of Sarah Cafferkey in November last year - his second murder conviction along with a string of other serious crimes.

Hunter is the first murderer in the state's history to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity and still be sentenced to life without parole.

His barrister Tim Walsh pressed that point while arguing before the Court of Appeal on Thursday, saying his client deserved to be given a chance at parole in 30 to 35 years.

"It's a momentous step," he said.

"The refusal to set a non-parole period is not warranted in this case."

He told the Court of Appeal's president Justice Chris Maxwell and Justices Phillip Priest and Paul Coghlan that the sentence was one of "unprecedented magnitude" because of the early guilty plea.

But Crown prosecutor Peter Kidd said there was no reason a judge had to impose a sentencing discount just because someone decided to admit their guilt.

He said sentencing needed to take into account many factors, from community protection to prior convictions.

"He's a danger to the community in the future," Mr Kidd said.

Mr Marsh argued it would be nearly impossible to know if Hunter would be a risk decades from now.

Hunter, who was not in court for the appeal bid, killed Ms Cafferkey in his Bacchus Marsh home and stuffed the 22-year-old's body in a bin before filling it with concrete.

She was killed 11 days after Hunter's parole had ended for kidnapping and assaulting a man.

Hunter told police upon his arrest he should be locked up until he died, but then lodged the appeal against such a sentence.

He first killed in 1986, when he stabbed work colleague Jacqueline Mathews lit her body for rejecting his sexual advances.

In sentencing Hunter with no parole option in August, Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bell said the murder was in the worst category of the most serious of murder cases.

"The community, especially young women, need protection from your propensity for extreme violence," he said.

The Court of Appeal reserved its decision for a date to be fixed.

Ms Cafferkey's family attended Thursday's appeal hearing.

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