‘Upset, frustrated, angry': Woman criticises sentence given to late father's wife over his unlawful killing

Irish Times

22-07-2025

A Dublin woman has criticised the leniency of the prison sentence given to her late father's wife and carer for unlawfully killing him.
Olesja Hertova (49), of Hastings Lawn, Balbriggan, Dublin, admitted that she had 'forcefully' pushed James 'Shey' Ryan (69) resulting in his death on August 11th last.
She was jailed for two years and nine months, backdated to last August, by Judge Martin Nolan at
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
earlier this month.
The judge said Hertova, who had no previous convictions, had 'lost her temper with Mr Ryan', with CCTV footage from the night in question showing that he struck his head after being pushed. The couple had been together for 16 years.
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'I have no doubt that she did not intend to kill him,' Judge Nolan said.
He noted that Mr Ryan, a former soldier who had Parkinson's disease and
COPD
, 'seems to have been a very popular and vital to his family' and his death had caused 'huge trauma'.
Mr Ryan's daughter, Karen Ryan, on Tuesday said she had been suspicious of the circumstances surrounding her father's death as there was a history of domestic violence by Hertova, a Czech national, against him and another family member.
Karen Ryan leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. Photograph: Collins Courts
However, she was told the details of the domestic violence had to be retracted from her victim impact statement because Hertova had pleaded guilty.
'If this had gone to trial, all that domestic violence history would have been allowed into trial. But because she had admitted [to the charge], it's not allowed in,' she told RTÉ's Oliver Callan show.
Regarding the sentence imposed, Ms Ryan said it left her feeling 'numb, shocked, upset, frustrated, angry'.
'I don't think there's enough words in the dictionary to describe how the whole family felt. We were brought in by the DPP a couple of weeks prior to this to say that she's probably going to serve less than five years.
'We were told that any domestic violence incidents that were called to the house would not be taken into effect because she had admitted to it and it wasn't going to trial.'
Ms Ryan said the family would like to see a change in the relevant laws so a judge could ask whether there was a history of domestic violence in a home should such a situation arise in court.
'My dad had two safety orders that were never put through the courts,' she added. 'When we were going through his documents in the house, we found one of them.'
She said a family member had told her Hertova found another of the orders and ripped it up. She said she did not know why Mr Ryan did not activate the safety order.
The court heard Mr Ryan had purchased a half-bottle of vodka for Hertova to have at a barbecue at their house in the hours before he was injured.
Once she had consumed the bottle of vodka, she went to the shop and purchased more alcohol. After the barbecue, Mr Ryan went to a local pub and at 1am was seen entering a takeaway. He then took a taxi home, arriving at 1.30am.
The court heard that when Mr Ryan arrived home, he and Hertova began to argue, and Mr Ryan walked out the front door of his home and unlocked a car in the driveway.
Hertova followed him out and told him not to drive. She then pushed Mr Ryan, and he fell to the ground. An ambulance transferred Mr Ryan to Beaumont Hospital where he was later referred to palliative care. He died on August 11th.
Ms Ryan said she would encourage anyone experiencing domestic violence, be they male or female, to speak to someone about their situation.