Former soldier strangled his girlfriend to death, strangled her to “undress or break Spanish holidays” with a straight-haired power cord, and now faces a 30-year prison

A former soldier, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend while on vacation in Spain, is now facing a prison for up to thirty years.

The court heard that Keith Byrne, 34, strangled her with a straight-haired power cord after telling him she was leaving him.

He claimed at the trial in Tarragona, Spain that Ms. Byrne committed suicide at the four-star Magnolia Hotel in the popular Costa Daurada resort.

The former Irish Guard and Parachute Regiment soldier said he would never commit domestic violence and insisted that he was the “respectful and intelligent” father of three children.

Meanwhile, he demonized Ms. Ward as someone who might be “four in a day”, claiming she struggled with alcohol and cocaine, which he said made their romance “toxic”.

Ms. Ward’s mother Jackie Ward told the court on the first day of the trial that Byrne was the one she “don’t like” and “don’t trust.”

She said she discovered after her daughter passed away that she planned to leave during the “made or rest” holiday in Byrne and booked a ticket and returned to Dublin on July 4, 2023.

She was asked whether she thought her daughter’s son Evan, 14, might have died of suicide because of her evidence, but replied: “She did everything for her son. She would never leave him. She would never do that to him.”

Ms. Ward’s mother told the court: “She did everything for her son. She would never leave him’

Ms. Ward had planned to be in Byrne

Ms. Ward thanked the jury in a statement for “seeing and believing in the truth about our beautiful Kirsty.”

“Our family now demands that our privacy be respected and we are saddened by what has happened in the past two years and have a deal. ”

Byrne is now awaiting a verdict and is expected to find out his fate in about a month.

A private prosecutor for Ms. Ward’s family said they are seeking a 30-year prison sentence before and during the trial.

Prosecutor Javier Goimil urged the judge to jail Bourne for 20 years because he accepted his previous use of drinks and drugs as a relief, thus reducing his initial pretrial demand for a year.

Jurors found that when Bourne killed Ms. Ward, Bourne “reduced cognitive and voluntary abilities.”

Domestic violence expert Mr Goimil dismissed Byrne’s court’s claims that Ms Ward claimed her life in a closing speech to the jury last Wednesday on the last day of the murder trial.

He claimed that the former soldier had lived in Duleek, Co Meath, decided: “You are mine, or you are no one” and strangled his girlfriend to death because she wanted to get out of a relationship.

He said forensic evidence showed that Ms. Ward was strangled between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on July 2, 2023 because he “lost his ability” with alcohol and cocaine.

The couple has been staying at the 4-star Magnolia hotel in Salou’s popular Costa Daurada resort

He told the court: “Byrne adapted his version of the incident based on the evidence he learned against him.

“What he said is Kirsty tied a cable around her neck and secured it to the door handle, but in state she couldn’t do it, and nothing can indicate a knot in the cable.

“What happened here was a violent and painful death, a strangulation that pulled from behind to behind. This is not suicide.

He added: “She did not leave any notes for her son, siblings or mother, and she bought a ticket back to Dublin on July 4.

Kirsty’s relationship with Byrne is very toxic, very intense and very excited.

“She decided to end it within a week of their stay at the Saru Hotel, and her partner couldn’t accept the decision.

“The mentality at that moment was: ‘Are you mine, or you no one. Women, women, no one says you want to be separated from me, men and have their own independent life.”

“That’s why he killed her in his own way.”

He also said that the amount of alcohol Ms. Ward was drunk before being killed would have a significant impact on her ability to defend herself.

Byrne’s defense attorney Jordi Cabre, who had been seeking acquittal of his client before the jury’s verdict, has since asked the judge to drop a “minimum sentence.”

Ms. Ward thanked the jury in a statement for “seeing and believing in the truth about our beautiful Kirsty”

Following Byrne’s arrest in Spain, Royal Army police arrested the former soldier in Britain for his departure from Ireland in 2017.

Ms. Ward’s family thanked the jury in a statement yesterday for seeing and believing the truth about our beautiful Kirsty, whose life was taken from her and we were robbed of the beautiful life she and she could have lived. ”

They thank police, public and private prosecutors for their support, guidance and commitment and demand that their privacy be respected “when we are sad and reach an agreement with everything that has happened in the past two years.”

After Ms. Ward died in 2023, her mother paid tribute to her, calling her “a amazing friend” and “an absolutely respected daughter”.

Speaking at John Church of John the Ballinteer in Ballinteer, Jackie Ward said her daughter was an amazing mother to her son.

“They are both an amazing and close team and I hope to continue the great work she has done.

“She is a great friend to me and a daughter that I absolutely admire with myself and John.

“She is a caring sister, a cherished granddaughter, and many loving niece and cousins. A loyal and true friend.