The family of an Irish woman who was strangled by her partner in a hotel in Spain two years ago have said they are very disappointed with the prison term imposed on him.
Keith Byrne was sentenced to 15 years 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, said they feel the prison term ignores the verdict of the jury.
Byrne strangled the 36-year-old, a mother of one, at a hotel in Salou on 2 July 2023 because she was going to leave him.
He never admitted what he had done or expressed any remorse and after his arrest released a video from his prison cell, falsely claiming he was innocent and referring to her only as "the girl".
Ms Ward's parents said the 15-year prison term detracts from the seriousness of the crime, ignores what the jury decided, and takes into account Byrne's consumption of alcohol and drugs as a mitigating factor when he had falsely claimed that their daughter had taken her own life.
Her father, John Gough, described the sentence as disappointing and said that it "should have been longer".
"This is wrong. Basically, it devalues someone's life with such a lenient sentence.
"It’s not correct. It’s not right. It’s not justice. It’s not what we set out for."
Her mother, Jackie, said: "We had fought for two years for Kirsty to get justice for her.
"The jury did their job very well in finding him guilty of murder. Unfortunately, the judge made the decision to downgrade it to 15 years.
"We are as a family broken and very disappointed at that news."
Byrne, a 34-year-old former soldier, who lived in Duleek in Co Meath, was wanted in the UK at the time of the murder for being absent without leave for the previous five years.
Ms Ward had wanted to get out of their volatile relationship and had bought a ticket from Spain to Dublin.
Byrne murdered her two days before she had been due to fly home.
Ms Ward’s family said the public prosecutor, who had sought a 20-year term, is appealing the leniency of the sentence.
Byrne given restraining order, ordered to pay compensation
Sentencing judge Susana Calvo Gonzalez ruled the fact that Byrne and his partner had been in a stable eight-month relationship made the crime more serious.
But she said his consumption of alcohol and drugs before the murder diminished his cognitive faculties and was a prevailing mitigating factor.
"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," the judge said.
"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, that she 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 and Ms Ward as someone who could be "four people in one day".
Her mother, Jackie, described him 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 claim that his partner took her own life during his closing speech to the jury.
He claimed the former soldier decided that "you're mine or you're nobody's" and strangled Ms Ward with a hair straightener power cord because she wanted out of their relationship.
As well as the 15-year sentence, Byrne was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting her child, mother and other family members, or going within 1,000m of them for a period of 25 years.
He was also ordered to pay compensation to her relatives.
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Kirsty's mother, Jackie, said that Byrne was "totally cowardly in his accusations" and described his behaviour on the video as "disgusting".
"There was no remorse and no admission. He could not even make some mention of her and show some remorse or some love towards the woman he was in a relationship with.
"Her son was now 14 at that stage, so she was now in a position to have a relationship, a committed relationship, and that's all she was looking for - to find that extra piece to complete her life.
"I was very close to Kirsty and I certainly didn't think her life was in danger and she didn’t think her life was in danger either."
Her family also said that while it was offered assistance by the Department of Foreign Affairs, but did not get much help.
"We got lists of numbers. We got lists of names. We had to make our own arrangements to travel to Spain when Kirsty was found dead in 2023," Jackie Ward said.
"I had to travel to Spain with my sisters to identify her. On that journey, I was given a translator from the embassy in Madrid to assist in the meeting with the police ... but after that we had to make our own flight arrangements, our own accommodation and transfers."
The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust was "amazing" in helping to bring Kirsty's body home, she added.
Additional reporting Gerard Couzens
