THE family of murdered Kirsty Ward are taking a private case against her twisted killer in Spain.
A fundraiser, which has been set up by friends of the Irish mum-of-one, has already raised €33,000 to help her loved ones cover the costs of taking their own legal action against Keith Byrne, who was found guilty of her murder.
After three days of deliberations, jurors in a Spanish court on Thursday found Keith Byrne guilty of strangling Kirsty Ward to death after she told him she was leaving him.
A GoFundMe was set up in recent weeks to help raise the €60,000 needed so that the family “could seek justice for Kirsty”.
Ex-soldier Byrne, 34, went on trial in Spain, where he fatally strangled the mother-of-one in July 2023 after she told him she was ending their relationship.
In a post on the GoFundMe page, a friend of Kirsty said her family was strongly advised to take their own legal action against Byrne.
But it stated for them to do so, a substantial amount of money needs to be raised.
It reads: “Those of you who knew Kirsty will remember hearing the sad news of her passing in tragic circumstances (domestic violence) on the July 2, 2023 while away on holidays in Spain.
“Kirsty was an amazing beautiful young woman and a mother who had her whole life to look forward to and is sadly missed by her loving son, parents, brother, sister, grandparents and friends.
“In Spain the family of the victim are allowed to take a case against the accused at the same time as the state is prosecuting the accused.
“Because of the circumstances of Kirsty’s passing and how the legal system works in Spain, the family was strongly advised to take a private legal action alongside the public case.”
It went on: “Domestic violence should never be tolerated. The provisional estimate for fighting a case like this will be well in excess of €60,000 which is emotionally and financially draining.
“All monies raised here will be used to reduce the legal end of this burden.”
VERDICT HANDED DOWN
Byrne had claimed during his trial in the eastern Spanish city of Tarragona that the 36-year-old took her own life at their four-star Magnolia Hotel in the popular Costa Daurada resort of Salou.
Byrne now faces up to 30 years in prison and will most likely be sentenced in a months’ time.
Following the trial, Kirsty’s family thanked the jury for “seeing and believing” the truth after the verdict.
FAMILY THANKFUL
They said: “Our family wish to thank our private prosecutor Estela Cortes and her team for guiding, supporting and representing Kirsty, her son and our family at this very difficult and painful time.
“Javier Goimil the public prosecutor for his commitment and passion; the Spanish investigation teams and police for their expertise, empathy and understanding; and the jury for seeing and believing in what was the truth about our beautiful Kirsty.
“Our family now request our privacy to be respected, while we grieve and come to terms with all that has happened during the past two years.”
