Slain teacher's partner hits out at Puska family jail terms

THE boyfriend of murder victim Ashling Murphy has said he was left "utterly disgusted and extremely angry" at the sentences handed down to her killer's wife, brothers and their wives.

- BY PAUL HEALY Crime Correspondent

On Wednesday, murderer Jozef Puska's wife Lucia Istokova was jailed for 20 months, while his brothers Marek and Lubomir were jailed for two-and-a-half years each. Lubomir's wife Viera Gaziova was jailed for two years and Marek’s wife Jozefina Grundzova got 21 months - all for their roles in covering up the crime.

The wives of the brothers admitted burning Puska’s clothes, while they admitted seeing their brother with visible injuries and hearing his admissions.

Puska’s wife, meanwhile, had heard him admit to the murder, and seen his injuries - but claimed she had been too scared to tell gardai the truth. In a lengthy statement issued yesterday, Ryan said he was left “utterly disgusted, extremely angry and yet again was taken back at how spineless, weak and tolerable the Irish justice system is when it comes to sentencing criminals who engage in such crimes.”

Ryan said he took time to reflect and gather his thoughts on what unfolded in court - and said it is clear to him that the family members “to the best of their ability helped the man who murdered my partner in cold blood”.

“These people burned the clothes of Jozef Puska, which were stained with my partner's blood. They washed the ashes down their sink in an attempt to cover up for what Jozef Puska had done,” he said.

“These people helped Jozef Puska in the initial hours after he murdered Ashling, knowing full well what he had done, driving him to Dublin to their parents’ house in order to build and fabricate a disgusting lie that they all were complicit in trying to spin.