Ashling Murphy: man sentenced to life in prison for her murder

A man was sentenced today (Friday) to a whole life prison sentence for the murder of Irish schoolteacher Ashling Murphy last year.

Jozef Puska (33), of Lynally Grove in Mucklagh, Tullamore, was found guilty of murdering 23-year-old Ms Murphy by a jury of nine men and three women last week.

There is a mandatory life sentence for murder.

At Dublin's Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said there was only one sentence available, and it was "deserved".

He said Puska's evidence had been "indescribable" and the "one thing we don't know about this case is the why".

Ashling was killed while she was out exercising along a canal in Tullamore, County Offaly, in January last year.

Her partner has said they "simply couldn't get enough of each other", and first met when they were teenagers.

Ryan Casey gave a victim impact statement at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin before Jozef Puska was sentenced to life in prison for her murder.

Mr Casey said his and Ms Murphy's relationship was "full with love, trust respect" and "was quite simply heaven on earth".

He said they had plans to travel together, to build a house, start a family, and get married.

He said they had talked about how many kids they would have, and imagined they would be "little hurlers and camogie players and even better - musicians".

He said it didn't make sense to him that someone who is "a burden to society can completely and permanently destroy someone... who is the complete opposite", describing Ashling Murphy as "a light with dreams, compassion, respect, a person who contributes to society in the best way possible".

The mother of Ashling Murphy said her "heart was ripped" from her body the moment she learned her daughter had been killed.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by a detective garda, Mrs Murphy said her "heart broke the moment I heard the bad news Ashling was murdered".

"There is such a void in our home," she said.

She said that the actions of Jozef Puska, who was given a life sentence for Ms Murphy's murder on Friday, "must have consequences" and said "he should never see the light of day again".

She said that before her daughter left the house, she had begged her not to go along the canal, to which Ms Murphy replied "Ah mum, I'm 23 years old" before giving her mother a hug.

She gave her "a big hug and said 'I love you, you're the best mum in the world' and walked out the door", the court heard.