The outraged family of a woman murdered by her neighbour while protecting his son says the justice system has catastrophically failed them.

Relatives of beloved Bayswater mother Vicky Apostolopoulos, 51, gasped with shock as her killer Milorad Zaric, 48, was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to a minimum of 14 years and six months behind bars for her murder and the assault of her eldest son Riley.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Riley Van Aken slammed the “horrific” sentence handed to his mum’s killer.

Then aged 16, Riley risked his own life to try to save his mum, detaining Zaric in a chokehold which he only released after his younger brother Tyler had fled the home.

“There’s nothing I do without having mum on my mind. There’s nothing I can do, whether it be school or other achievements, where I feel any sort of successfulness from it as I’m not able to share it with mum anymore,” he said.

“He should have gotten life imprisonment without parole.”

Through tears, her sister Mary Kadis said the family was “utterly devastated and disgusted” by the sentence.

“What a disgrace of a justice system. It is impossible to understand how a brutal murder can result in a sentence that gives a murderer hope for freedom,” she said.

“While the victim’s family is left suffering a lifetime of loss, we will never get paroled from this sentence. We will never get to see Vicky again. Never hear her voice, have another hug, or share another moment with her.

“Yet the murderer who took her life one day will have the opportunity to walk free. Once again, the justice system has failed. It’s failed Vicky, failed her children, and failed every single person who loved her.

“Our family is absolutely devastated, shattered and heartbroken, and struggling to understand how a life as precious as Vicky’s can be valued so little.”

Ms Apostolopoulos was warm-hearted and generous and had no reason to fear Zaric, whom she’d baked cupcakes for two days before her murder on November 16, 2024.

Her killing occurred after another act of kindness – opening the door to Zaric’s son who was in fear of his life.

Then aged 17, the boy had been punched by Zaric, who was armed with a knife and high on ketamine.

When Zaric came to her door, Ms Apostolopoulos let him in, and in a state of drug-induced psychosis, he stabbed her in the abdomen, shoulder, and neck.

The attack was witnessed by Riley, while Tyler hid terrified in a closet.

Justice Jacinta Forbes found that Zaric was in a state of ketamine-induced psychosis when he killed his neighbour, and the act was deeply out of character, with those who knew him describing him as an otherwise “generous and patient man”.

Zaric had been taking ketamine which he sourced illegally to treat depression, he told police.

Justice Forbes did not accept he used the drugs to eliminate a medical issue, but rather to make himself “less sad”, noting his “irrational and bizarre” behaviour was witnessed by multiple family members in the days leading to Ms Apostolopoulos’s murder.

That morning, Zaric was heard laughing at 4am, having taken a kitchen drawer and all the food from the fridge outside the home to “feed a possum”.

He’d also tackled his son and punched him in the face, causing him to fall down the stairs, and days earlier warned, “there is a war coming”.

Ms Apostolopoulos’s family is devastated that she was not forewarned about the danger he posed.

“No one considered Vicky or her children that day. Intervention is prevention. They failed to act when it mattered most,” Ms Kadis said.

Justice Forbes said Zaric’s sentence was mitigated by factors including his guilty plea, genuine remorse, and “excellent” prospects of rehabilitation if he remains drug-free.

She sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment for murder and eight months for the assault of Riley, with three months to be served cumulatively.

She said the non-parole period of 14 years and six months would facilitate his rehabilitation.

“In my view, it meets the needs of justice,” Justice Forbes said.