Murder victim Ashling Murphy’s boyfriend Ryan Casey ‘utterly disgusted’ at Puska family’s sentence
Yesterday murderer Jozef Puska’s wife Lucia Istokova was jailed for 20 months, while his brothers were jailed for two and a half years each. Their wives, Viera Gaziova was jailed for two years, and Jozefina Grundzova for 21 months, – all for their roles in covering up the
Ashling Murphy and her boyfriend Ryan Casey.
The boyfriend of murder victim Ashling Murphy says he was left “utterly disgusted and extremely angry” at the sentences handed down to her killer’s wife, brothers and their wives.
Yesterday murderer Jozef Puska’s wife Lucia Istokova was jailed for 20 months, while his brothers were jailed for two and a half years each. Their wives Viera Gaziova was jailed for two years and Jozefina Grundzova for 21 months – all for their roles in covering up the crime.
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 today, Ashling’s boyfriend Ryan Casey 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.
“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,” he continued.
“These people repeatedly lied to An Garda Síochána and tried their living best to obstruct justice during the investigation in order to protect Jozef Puska. These people attended court every day during the trial of Jozef Puska, fully supporting him, they displayed zero remorse for what he had done.”
Ryan said he was disgusted when he saw that they “smirked, smiled, shook their heads throughout the entire trial back in 2023 and even when Jozef Puska was found guilty, they all stood up, started shouting and screaming in their own language their disagreement with the verdict.
“These people knew the gravity of the situation when Jozef Puska returned home to them on the night of January 12, 2022 and they had a very clear choice to make.
“One: Protect a man who had told them he had just murdered a woman, do everything you can to destroy any evidence and help build/fabricate a disgusting lie. Two: Be a good and decent resident of this state and do what any decent person or family would do and immediately report and turn him in to An Garda Síochána.
“As we all know, they went with option 1 and tried their living best to carry it out right up until their very own guilty verdict.”
Speaking about the verdict after hearing the powerful statements of Ashling’s father Ray and sister Amy he said he was disgusted by the length of the sentences.
“I was told in the aftermath that this was actually a better result than what was expected and that there was a given expectation that only the two brothers would face a small custodial sentence. This to me is an acceptance of a weak and spineless justice system,” he said.
“I refuse to accept this view, I will never accept it, in my opinion it is a dangerous and defeatist belief when it comes to punishing criminals and we have to challenge it,” he said.
“This was an opportunity to lay down a marker and to set a precedent to anyone else who dares to engage in such crimes or any crimes for that matter again and that they will be hit with a type of justice and a scale of justice that no criminal is prepared for,” he continued.
“But again, as always, the weak and spineless Irish justice system has failed yet another victim and another victim’s family which is becoming a notable trend in Ireland across various types of criminal cases might I add.”
Ryan said it is his belief that the Irish “justice system needs a complete revisit and overhaul and needs to grow a backbone and begin to start rolling out tougher and harsher sentences to criminals in this country, the type of punishments and sentences that make criminals think twice before engaging in such crimes.”
“It would only be a piece to the puzzle towards making our country a safer place for our most vulnerable people and all people for that matter,” he added.
“The other issues will take time, but this can be done much sooner with tougher legislation coupled with stronger influence and guidance from our current minister for justice, Jim O’Callaghan who to be fair inherited a serious mess of a justice department so time will tell how he acts or if he acts at all.
“We all know that sentencing decisions are constitutionally the responsibility of the judiciary which cannot be directly influenced by the justice minister, but judges must follow the law and legislation that is in place by the cabinet of the justice minister.
“Also, In my opinion, our judges in this country need to step up and be much much tougher on crime, especially against women and children!! I have seen and heard of far too many cases over the last few years where sentences and punishments have been nothing short of a disgrace to the victims and their families.”
Ryan went on to speak about the fact that this January will mark four years since Ashling was brutally killed by Puska while out for a run on the Grand Canal near Tullamore, Co Offaly.
“Where these four years have gone I will never know. Yet in roughly half that time again, all of these people will be back out on our streets again, in the midst of our society and most likely right back on to all of our welfare systems,” he said.
“This to me and to all of us is an absolute joke and really sums up this country right now. I want to know why these people who came here over 10 years ago, who never bothered to work, who never bothered to contribute to society, who never bothered to integrate, who sponged off the welfare system, who tried their best as a family to cover up the murder of my partner, were then handed softball sentences and will all be back out and about within our society within 2.5 years, most likely 2 years with ‘good behaviour’ and no doubt will all return to our welfare systems.
“I want to know, and I am directly asking the justice minister to respond and answer this question. Why for people like this, who have been convicted of such crimes, are there no provisions that can be put in place for the immediate deportation of these people once their sentences have been served?
“They have proved themselves time and time again to be nothing other than a burden and a danger to our society, they clearly have no intentions of ever contributing, why should they be allowed to remain in a country in which they have taken so much from.”
Ryan went on to say that he did not want to be labelled as something he is not – saying he is not anti-immigrant.
“I want to also acknowledge and nip something in the bud and not allow anyone again to label me as something I am clearly not. I firmly believe that immigration is a good thing for this country.
“In our history we have welcomed a great deal of amazing immigrants who have come from all corners of the globe, who have brought their knowledge, their skills, their expertise, their education, their labour, and who have come here with the goal of building new life by working hard, contributing and integrating right into our society, who respected our society and our values and who are now a crucial part of our society.
“We also in our history and rightly so, have taken in a great deal of asylum seekers,” he continued.
“Genuine asylum seekers who are fleeing war torn countries and I am proud that we as country have done so. But this has only been successful and accepted by the large majority when our rate of immigration and rate of people seeking asylum was at a controllable and safe level and when we had the capacity and services in place to welcome these people, to protect these people here in a safe and decent manner and to integrate them into society in a proper manner.”
Ryan went on to say that he believed people needed to start “having real conversations, we need to start listening to each other, we to start respecting opinions.
“We need to find a way forward that is respectful, that is peaceful and that fosters an environment and a society that isn’t afraid to voice its opinions without fear of being pu
blicly shamed or labelled something they are not,” he said.