Breaking news.
Jozef Puska has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ashling Murphy.
Ms Murphy, a 23-year-old primary school teacher and traditional Irish musician, was attacked and killed while out jogging along the canal bank at Cappincur in Tullamore, Offaly on the afternoon of 12 January last year.
Last week, jurors at the Central Criminal Court reached a unanimous guilty verdict for Puska, 33, following a murder trial that lasted around three weeks.
That same day, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said he would hear victim impact statements from Ms Murphy’s family at a later date before sentencing Puska.
Puska, who is originally from Slovakia, had pleaded not guilty to the crime.
Jozef Puska has been sentenced for the murder of Ashling Murphy
On Friday (17 November), as reported by RTÉ News, the Central Criminal Court heard those impact statements from Ashling’s mother Kathleen and sister Amy, as well as Ashling’s partner Ryan Casey.
Also present in court was Ashling’s father Ray and brother Cathal.
After the victim statements were delivered, Jozef Puska was sentenced to life in prison, with Mr Justice Hunt reportedly describing the sentence as “wholly deserved”.
According to RTÉ News, the judge stated that Puska’s evidence had been “indescribable” and “the one thing we don’t know about this case is the why.”
He then told Puska “unless that becomes known, the question of your safe return to society must be an open one”.
Main image via Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie
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