Boyfriend found guilty of Kirsty Ward's brutal murder facing up to 30 years

Extra.ie​

09-05-2025

An Irishman is facing up to 30 years in jail after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in a Spanish hotel room after she tried to break up with him.
Keith Byrne, 34, will find out next month how long he will spend in prison for the brutal murder of his former partner, fellow Dubliner Kirsty Ward.
Ms Ward was strangled to death by Byrne during a 'make-or-break' holiday to Salou, Spain. Kirsty Ward.
Her body was discovered at the four-star Hotel Magnolia in the Costa Dorada resort on Sunday, July 2, 2023.
Byrne, a former soldier, had claimed Ms Ward had taken her own life but a jury agreed he strangled her to death with the cord of a hair straightener.
Speaking outside court, Ms Ward's family thanked prosecutors, Spanish police and the jury, adding: 'Our family now requests our privacy to be respected while we grieve and come to terms with all that has happened during the past two years.'
In court, Byrne described himself as a 'respectful and intelligent' father-of-three – and demonised Ms Ward as someone who could be 'four people in one day', especially after binging on alcohol and cocaine, which he claimed made their romance 'toxic'. Keith Byrne.
A private prosecutor acting for Ms Ward's family said she was still seeking a 30-year sentence. Public prosecutor Javier Goimil urged the judge to jail him for 20 years. He accepted Byrne's prior use of drink and drugs as a mitigating circumstance after jurors ruled he had 'diminished cognitive and volitional faculties'.
Mr Goimil, a domestic violence specialist, rubbished Byrne's court claim that Ms Ward took her own life. He claimed the former soldier, who had been living in Duleek, Co. Meath, decided, 'You're mine or you're nobody's' and strangled his girlfriend to death because she wanted out of their stormy relationship.
He said the forensic evidence pointed to Ms Ward having been strangled from behind between 8pm and 10pm on July 2, 2023, after 'incapacitating herself' with alcohol and cocaine. Salou on the Costa Dorada, Spain. Pic: Shutterstock
Mr Goimil told the court: 'He's saying Kirsty tied a cable round her neck and attached it to the doorknob, but in the state she was in it would have been impossible for her to do that and there's nothing showing there was a knot in the cable. What's occurred here is a violent and painful death, a strangulation from behind where someone is pulling from the front to the back. This was not a suicide.'
He added: 'She didn't leave a note for her son or her siblings or her mum, and what's more, she had bought a plane ticket back to Dublin for July 4. Kirsty's relationship with Byrne was very toxic, very intense and very emotional. She decided to end it during the week they stayed at the hotel in Salou and her partner couldn't accept that decision. His mindset at that moment was, 'You're mine or you're nobody's. You, woman, are no one to say you're going to detach yourself from me, the man, and have your own independent life'. That was why he killed her the way he did.'
He said the alcohol Kirsty had drunk before being killed would have impacted significantly on her ability to defend herself. Kirsty Ward.
On day one of the trial, on April 23, Kirsty's mum Jackie Ward described Byrne as someone she 'didn't like' and 'didn't trust' and said she had found out after her daughter's death that she had planned to leave him during their 'make-or-break' holiday.
She was asked whether she thought her daughter, whose son Evan was 14 when she died, could have died by suicide, to which she replied angrily: 'She did everything for her son. She would never, ever leave him. She would never do that to him.'
Jackie Ward told mourners at her daughter's funeral, in Ballinteer, Dublin, in July 2023, that she had been an amazing mum to Evan, saying: 'The two of them were an amazingly strong and tight team and I hope to continue the great work she has done. To me she was a fantastic friend and an absolutely adored daughter to myself and John. She was a caring sister, a cherished granddaughter and much-loved niece and cousin. A loyal and true friend.'
Byrne filmed a video from his Spanish prison cell telling his family he did not do what they claimed, saying: 'The truth will come out and then the newspapers will all eat their words, but listen, I love you all very much and just keep this video because everyone will watch it…'
Regarding prison, he added: 'I'm okay, safe, going to school, f**king learning Spanish, going to the gym, swimming, playing football, A1. I'm in a low-security unit, there is no violence here… It is not allowed or else you get f**ked out… All the prisoners are on the suss, they don't let anyone act the b**lox because it fcks them all up…'
The video ends with Byrne blowing a kiss and saying: 'See ye all soon.'
The judge retired to consider his sentence after the jury decision. Byrne is not expected to find out his sentence for nearly a month.