The family of an Irish woman who was strangled by her partner in a hotel in Spain two years ago say they are very disappointed with the sentence imposed on him for her murder.
Keith Byrne was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of Kirsty Ward, with time off for the two years he has already spent in custody
Ms Ward’s parents Jackie and John say they feel the prison term ignores the verdict of the jury and that the public prosecutor is appealing the leniency of the sentence.
They said today they are very disappointed with the sentence imposed on their daughter’s killer in Spain.
Keith Byrne strangled his girlfriend Kirsty Ward at a holiday hotel in Salou on 2 July 2023 because she was going to leave him.
He never admitted what he had done, never expressed any remorse and shortly after his arrest released this video from his Spanish jail cell, falsely claiming he was innocent and referring to Kirsty only as “the girl”.
Keith Byrne was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of Kirsty Ward, a sentence which her parents Jackie and John Ward say detracts from the seriousness of the crime.
They say it ignores what the jury decided and takes into account his consumption of alcohol and drugs as a mitigating factor when Byrne in fact falsely claimed Kirsty had taken her own life.
The 34-year-old former soldier who lived in Duleek in County Meath was wanted in the UK at the time of the murder, by the Royal Military Police, for being absent without leave for the previous five years.
Kirsty Ward had wanted to get out of their volatile relationship and had bought a ticket from Spain to Dublin.
Keith Byrne murdered her two days before she had been due to fly home
Ms Ward’s family say the public prosecutor who had sought 20 years in jail for the murder is now appealing the leniency of the sentence.
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Byrne given restraining order, ordered to pay compensation
Sentencing judge Susana Calvo Gonzalez ruled the fact that Byrne and his 36-year-old partner had been in a stable eight-month relationship made the crime more serious.
But she said his consumption of alcohol and drugs before he murdered Ms Ward diminished his cognitive faculties and was a prevailing mitigating factor.
The judge said: “I understand that there is a prevailing basis for imposing the lower penalty and, therefore, imposing a sentence of between seven years and six months and 15 years.
“Within that range, the recognition of the aggravating circumstance and the motivation for the act…lead to the imposition of the maximum penalty, which is 15 years in prison.”
In May, jurors found Byrne guilty of murdering Ms Ward after three days of deliberations.
He had claimed during his trial in Tarragona trial the mother-of-one had died by suicide at the four-star Magnolia Hotel.
He described himself as a “respectful and intelligent” father of three who would never commit an act of domestic violence – and described Ms Ward as someone who could be “four people in one day”.
Ms Ward’s mother, Jackie Ward, described Byrne as someone she “didn’t like” and “didn’t trust” during the trial and said she had found out after her daughter’s death that she had planned to leave him during their “make or break” holiday.
Public prosecutor Javier Goimil, a domestic violence specialist, dismissed Byrne’s court claim that Ms Ward took her own life during his closing speech to the jury on the final day of the murder trial.
He claimed the former soldier decided, “you’re mine or you’re nobody’s” and strangled his girlfriend to death with a hair straightener power cord because she wanted out of their relationship.
As well as the 15 year prison sentence, Byrne was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Ward’s child, mother and other family members or going within 1,000 metres of them for a period of 25 years and also ordered to pay compensation to her relatives.
