Keith Byrne jailed for 15 years for murdering partner Kirsty Ward in Spanish hotel room
Along with the sentence for the murder of Kirsty Ward (36), Byrne (34) was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Ward's family or going within one kilometre of them for 25 years.
He was also ordered to pay Ms Ward's teenage son €150,000 in compensation, her mother €80,000 and each of her siblings €20,000.
The two years Byrne has already spent in prison on remand and following his murder conviction in May will qualify as time served.
READ MORE
The sentencing decision was revealed overnight in a 121-page ruling by the judge who presided over Byrne's trial in the city of Tarragona, Spain.
Public prosecutors had demanded a 20-year jail sentence after a jury convicted Byrne of strangling Ms Ward to death with a hair straightener power cord at a hotel in Salou on July 2nd, 2023, after she told him she was leaving him.
Estela Cortes, a private prosecutor for Ms Ward's family, said she was still seeking the 30-year sentence she argued for before and during the trial.
[
'Our beautiful Kirsty': Family thanks jury after man found guilty of murdering Irish partner at Spanish hotel
Opens in new window
]
Judge Susana Calvo Gonzalez ruled the fact Byrne and Ms Ward had been in a stable eight-month relationship made the crime more serious.
However, she said his consumption of alcohol and drugs before the murder diminished his cognitive faculties and was a prevailing mitigating factor.
Rejecting arguments from Ms Cortes over the 30-year prison term, 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.'
Jurors found Byrne guilty after three days of deliberations of murdering his girlfriend on May 7th.
He had claimed during his trial that Ms Ward had died by suicide at the four-star Magnolia Hotel.
Byrne described himself as a 'respectful and intelligent' father of three who would never commit an act of domestic violence. He demonised Ms Byrne as someone who could be 'four people in one day'. He said this was especially the case after bingeing on alcohol and cocaine, which he claimed made their romance 'toxic'.
Public prosecutor Javier Goimil, a domestic violence specialist, rubbished Byrne's court claim 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, who had been living in Duleek, Co Meath, decided 'you're mine or you're nobody's'. Mr Goimil added that Byrne strangled his girlfriend to death because she wanted out of their relationship. He said forensic evidence pointed to Ms Ward being strangled from behind between 8pm and 10pm on July 2nd, 2023 after 'incapacitating herself' with alcohol and cocaine.
He said 'Kirsty's relationship with Byrne was very toxic, very intense and very emotional".
He also said the amount of alcohol Ms Ward had drunk before being killed would have impacted significantly her ability to defend herself.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Fermanagh shooting: Police appeal for information regarding movements of vehicle
Police in Northern Ireland investigating the deaths of a woman and her children in Maguiresbridge , Co Fermanagh, have appealed for more information regarding the movements of a vehicle. The victims have been named as Vanessa Whyte (45), originally from Co Clare, and her son and daughter, James and Sara Rutledge. Sara was 13 years old and James was 14, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said. A fourth individual, an adult male, is in a serious condition in hospital in Belfast . READ MORE A murder investigation has been launched, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said one line of inquiry was a triple murder and attempted suicide. Detectives from the major investigation team, conducting the murder investigation following the shooting incident, are continuing with their enquiries. On Saturday, the PSNI issued an appeal for information involving the movements of a vehicle. 'Our investigation is ongoing and we are working tirelessly to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy,' Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said. 'I would continue to appeal generally for anyone with information to come forward and more specifically I would ask anyone who saw a silver Mercedes saloon car being driven in the Clones Road area of Newtownbutler, or between Maguiresbridge and Newtownbutler, on the evening of Tuesday, July 22nd.' Anyone with any information is asked to contact detectives on 101, quoting reference 276 23/07/25. 'Anyone who was travelling in the area and who may have captured dash-cam footage which could assist, please get in touch,' the PSNI said. On Friday, hundreds of people attended a community vigil for the family. The vigil was organised by a community group and held at Maguiresbridge Primary School, where James and Sara previously attended. A book of condolence, set up next to a framed photo of the family and surrounded by white flowers and candles, was also opened at the school. The deaths have caused widespread shock across the small Co Fermanagh community. Flowers, teddy bears and an Arsenal football top with written notes have been laid close to scene of the incident in Drummeer Road.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Gardaí question three men following seizure of €345,000 in cash
Three men in their forties are being questioned by Gardaí in connection with the seizure of €345,640 in cash following the search of a vehicle in Drumcondra in Dublin on Friday. The search was carried out as part of an operation targeting an organised crime group involved in money laundering and the sale and sale of drugs in Dublin. Members of the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT) searched three male passengers in the vehicle and their luggage and located and seized the cash. The men are being detained in garda stations in the Dublin region. Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary, Dublin Metropolitan Region said that this 'significant seizure' of cash not only removes ill-gotten gains from the hands of criminals, but also deprives them of money they would have used to 'fund further criminal activities and cause harm in our communities.'
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Man jailed for role in murder of David Douglas in Dublin shoe shop appeals conviction
A Dublin man jailed for life for his role in the murder of David 'Daithí' Douglas who was 'executed' at a city centre shoe shop in Dublin nine years ago, has appealed his conviction arguing the court was wrong to find that a 'general association' with others linked to the crime was indicative of guilt. Mr Douglas (55) was shot six times in broad daylight as he took a meal break at the counter in his partner's shop, Shoestown in Dublin's Liberties. The semi-automatic pistol used in the murder had its serial number removed and was 'brazenly' left at the scene next to the deceased's head, the court heard. Lee Canavan (36) was jailed for life by Special Criminal Court on June 3rd, 2021. Canavan was the fourth man to be jailed in relation to the murder and his conviction was described by gardaí as 'significant'. READ MORE In 2018, gangster Frederick 'Fat Freddie' Thompson (45) was jailed for life by the Special Criminal Court for the murder of Mr Douglas. In 2019, Nathan Foley (26) of Maryland, Dublin 8, was jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal organisation by driving one of four cars and buying mobile phones used in the offence. Canavan's half-brother Gareth Brophy (30) was jailed in February 2020 for ten years also by the Special Criminal Court for his role as getaway driver. David 'Daithí' Douglas was shot dead in Dublin in 2016. In passing judgment, the non-jury court ruled that Canavan was part of a joint enterprise or shared intention to murder Mr Douglas in what was described as a 'meticulously planned execution'. However, the three-judge court did not agree with the State's contention that Canavan was 'the person who literally pulled the trigger', owing to a lack of forensic or identification evidence. Delivering judgment, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath said that four different vehicles had been used in the murder in a 'carefully planned assassination'. A Mercedes car used in the killing was found burned out near the shooting and a stolen Suzuki Swift was then used to ferry those in the Mercedes away from the burn site. Canavan, with an address at Edenbrook, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Douglas, who died after sustaining injuries to his chest, neck, back, torso, elbow and jaw at Shoestown, Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 1, on July 1st, 2016. Launching an Appeal against his conviction on Friday, Canavan's senior counsel Michael Bowman argued the court had made an error by convicting Canavan of murder in circumstances where the prosecution opened the case on the basis that his client was the individual who 'literally pulled the trigger'. He also submitted the three-judge court was wrong to find that a general association with others was indicative of guilt. Mr Bowman said Canavan was 'habitually' seen with Freddie Thompson and Gareth Brophy, who was his half-brother. 'There is nothing unusual about that. His presence in their company is not of tremendous relevance,' counsel said. He went on to say that Canavan had been stopped 22 times in cars he was not entitled to drive and on 11 of those occasions he had been in the company of Freddie Thompson. 'The presence or absence of him in the company of these people in the vehicles is not extraordinary,' said Mr Bowman. Mr Bowman said the court ultimately took the view that there was enough to convict on the basis of joint enterprise/common design. However, the barrister said there was 'no reference' during the prosecution's opening to joint enterprise/common design. Mr Bowman said there was insufficient evidence of joint enterprise to convict of murder and the case was defended on the basis that the prosecution's case was that Canavan was the shooter. Mr Bowman also argued the court was wrong not to accede to a defence application for a direction of no case to answer. He said the court also erred in allowing the admission of identification evidence from two members of the gardaí. He submitted the purported identification by the two members of the force were not subject to oversight, processes or safeguards and that neither garda possessed notebooks or contemporaneous notes detailing the manner in which they made their identification, nor could they point out features causing them to identify Canavan in the CCTV. He also said statements from witness James Maughan should not have been admissible during the trial in circumstances where the case was opened on the basis that Canavan was the shooter and 'Mr Maughan was central to that'. In response, Tony McGillicuddy SC, for the DPP, said this case had involved 'planned execution of a man in his own shoe shop'. 'It was planned carefully to secrete certain vehicles in certain places, planned to ensure they were out of the radar,' said the barrister. He said these vehicles then became 'live' later in the afternoon – one as 'the murder vehicle' and the other as the 'getaway' car – for the team involved in the killing. Mr McGillicuddy said the court found Canavan was 'an integral part' of that team on the basis of joint enterprise. He said the court found Canavan was 'centrally involved' in the placement of vehicles in areas not covered by CCTV and fed the meters to ensure they would be available later on. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court would reserve judgment. A father of one, Canavan was concurrently jailed for five years for the criminal damage to the getaway vehicle, a stolen Suzuki Swift, in Sandymount three days after the shooting. After the guilty verdict was delivered in May 2021, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary told media outside of court that Canavan's conviction was 'very significant' and that gardaí had now convictions for the 'whole murder cell'.
