An Irish man has been convicted by a jury in Spain of murdering his girlfriend at a hotel two years ago.
The 34-year-old Irish man had claimed during his trial in the eastern Spanish city of Tarragona that the 36-year-old Irish mother-of-one had died by suicide at their four-star Magnolia Hotel in the popular resort of Salou.
Former soldier Keith Byrne was found to have strangled Kirsty Ward to death using a lead from a hair straightener after she had told him she wanted to leave him on the 2nd of July, 2023.
The trial judge announced he was retiring to consider his sentence after the jury decision late last night - as is normal in Spain - and Byrne is not expected to find out for nearly a month how much time he will serve in prison.
A private prosecutor acting for Ms Ward's family said she was still seeking the 30-year sentence she argued for before and during the trial.
Public prosecutor Javier Goimil urged the judge to jail him for 20 years for his 2 July 2023 crime, lowering his initial pre-trial demand by a year as he accepted Byrne's prior use of drink and drugs as a mitigating circumstance after jurors ruled he had "diminished cognitive and volitional faculties" when he killed Ms Ward.
He is due to be sentenced in the next month.
In a statement today Kirsty Ward's family thanked the jury "for seeing and believing in what was the truth about our beautiful Kirsty, that her life was taken from her, and that we were robbed of her and the beautiful life she could have had".
They thanked the police, the public and the private prosecutors for their support, guidance and commitment and asked that their privacy to be respected, "while we grieve and come to terms with all that has happened during the past two years".
