Give killer ‘whole-life’ term: Brother

John Whelan believes the man who killed his sister and her two children should serve a “whole-life” sentence instead of being able to seek parole after just seven years.

He backed calls yesterday for the introduction of minimum tariffs for killers, whereby they would have to serve a specific period in prison before being considered for release.

Brian Hennessy was convicted in 2009 of murdering Sharon Whelan, 30, and her two daughters, Zarah, 7, and Nadia, 2, at her home in Windgap, Co Kilkenny, on Christmas Eve, 2008.

The 27-year-old, then a local postman and a neighbour of Ms Whelan, raped the single mother before strangling her, setting fire to her rented home, and killing the two girls.

In Nov 2009, Mr Justice Barry White handed down three life sentences, two to run consecutively.

The Court of Criminal Appeal overturned thesentence and ordered all life terms to run concurrently.

“To have that overturned on appeal was absolutely devastating,” said Mr Whelan yesterday at the launch of research conducted by Advocates for Victims of Homicide Ireland (AdVic).

“Three lives were taken, so the three life sentences should be run consecutively.

“Not only that, but someone who has committed a triple murder can sit down in front of a parole board after seven years and look for his freedom.”

Mr Whelan said it was unlikely Hennessy would get out so soon, but said it would be an increasing prospect as the years passed.

“I can’t express how much distress and anxiety this will bring to the family,” he said.

He said if the research findings — including that of minimum tariffs — were implemented, it would help address the problem.

“With minimum tariffs, he [Hennessy] would, in my opinion, be an excellent example of someone who should serve a whole-life term because, at the end of the day, he wiped out one third of my family.”

He said the entire family — his parents, his siblings, and his own family — were all serving a life sentence.

“It’s not a 12-year sentence or something,” he said “I’ll be serving this until I’m put in the ground.”

The effects of Hennessy’s crimes have been passed on to the next generation, Mr Whelan added, with his own two boys, aged 4 and 10 at the time, affected.

Mr Whelan said he was brought back to “day one” when he heard the news of the recent murder of a mother and child in Killorglin, Co Kerry: “It is like you are living it again.”

He said victims and their families should be “the staring point” for the criminal justice system and called for the pendulum to come back towards families.

“Change needs to happen,” said Mr Whelan. “All it takes is a small bit of will at the highest level [to] listen to what we are saying.”