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.