Victim’s brother calls for tougher jail terms

The brother of a woman who was killed on Christmas Day, along with her two daughters, has called on Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to impose tougher prison sentences on murderers.

John Whelan, a member Advocates for Victims of Homicide (AdVic) told the Today with Sean O’Rourke programme on RTÉ Radio 1 that in Ireland a life sentence does not mean life for the perpetrators of murder.

Mr Whelan told host Keelin Shanley how he learned of his 30-year-old sister Sharon’s death and the deliberate fire at her home that claimed the lives of her two daughters Zara, 7, and Nadia, 2, on Christmas Day 2008.