Man found guilty of murdering Irish partner at Spanish hotel after she told him she was leaving him
Jurors found Keith Byrne guilty after three days of deliberations.
Byrne (34) strangled Ms Ward to death with a hair-straightener power cord after she told him she was leaving him, the trial heard.
The former solder had claimed during his trial in the eastern Spanish city of Tarragona that Ms Ward (36) had died by suicide at their four-star Magnolia Hotel on the Costa Daurada.
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He described himself as a 'respectful and intelligent' father-of-three who would never commit an act of domestic violence - and demonised Ms Ward as someone who could be 'four people in one day' especially after binging on alcohol and cocaine which he claimed made their romance 'toxic'.
The trial judge announced he was retiring to consider his sentence after the jury decision late on Wednesday night - as is normal in Spain - and Byrne is not expected to find out for nearly a month how much time he will have to serve.
A private prosecutor acting for Ms Ward's family said she was still seeking the 30-year sentence she argued for before and during the trial.
Public prosecutor Javier Goimil urged the judge to jail him for 20 years for his July 2nd, 2023 crime. He lowered his initial pre-trial demand by a year as he accepted Byrne's prior use of drink and drugs as a mitigating circumstance after jurors ruled he had 'diminished cognitive and volitional faculties' when he killed Ms Ward.
The killer was led handcuffed from the court.
Mr Goimil told the jury that the former soldier, who had been living in Duleek, Co Meath, decided: 'You're mine or you're nobody's' and strangled his girlfriend to death because she wanted to leave..
He said the forensic evidence pointed to Ms Ward had been strangled from behind between 8pm and 10pm on July 2nd, 2023 after 'incapacitating herself' with alcohol and cocaine.
He told the court: 'Byrne has adapted his version of events of what happened in that timeframe nearly two years on in accordance with the evidence he's learnt there is against him.'
He added: 'She didn't leave a note for her son or her siblings or her mum and what's more she had bought a plane ticket back to Dublin for July 4th.'
Ms Ward's relationship with Byrne was very toxic, very intense and very emotional, he told the court.
Ms Ward's mother Jackie Ward described Byrne as someone she 'didn't like' and 'didn't trust' on day one of the trial on April 23nd and said she had found out after her daughter's death she had planned to leave him during their 'make or break' holiday.
Jurors started deliberating on Monday after the May 1st bank holiday.
Byrne's defence lawyer Jordi Cabre had been seeking his client's acquittal before the jury verdict and afterwards asked the judge to hand down the 'minimum sentence'.
Jackie Ward described her daughter after her death as a 'fantastic friend' to her parents and 'an absolutely adored daughter.'
She told the congregation at the Church of John the Evangelist in Ballinteer, Dublin in July 2023 that she had been an amazing mum to her son.
'To me she was a fantastic friend and an absolutely adored daughter to myself and John. She was a caring sister, a cherished granddaughter and much loved niece and cousin. A loyal and true friend.'
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