Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
A TARRAGONA court has sentenced Irishman Keith Byrne, who killed his girlfriend Kirsty in a Salou hotel on July 20, 2023, to 15 years behind bars.
Kirsty, a mother of two, was strangled by a hair-straightener cord, just hours after ditching the ex-british soldier.
They went on a vacation to the four-star Magnolia Hotel, hoping that they could mend their broken relationship.
READ MORE
Keith Byrne, 34, speaking at his trial this year claimed that she took her own life, and that her use of alcohol and cocaine had made their relationship ‘toxic’.
The jury, however was swayed to a certain extent by the prosecution’s argument that it used his physical superiority in order to kill her.
Kirsty’s teenage son was awarded €150,000 in compensation, her mother €80,000 and each of her siblings €20,000.
Byrne has been given a 25-year restraining injunction that prevents him from going near Ms Ward’s relatives or contacting them.
It has been included in the sentence that he spent two years in prison after his conviction in may.
Byrne was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the prosecutors, but the judge cited his drinking and drug use as a factor that reduced his cognitive abilities.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.
