'It's not the justice he deserved' - Family of James Ryan slam killer's sentence

The heartbroken family of the late James Ryan - who was killed by his partner after she 'forcefully' pushed him - has slammed the two years and nine months sentence that was handed down saying "it's not the justice he deserved." Dublin Circuit Court heard last week that Olesja Hertova (49) of Hastings Lawn, Balbriggan, Co Dublin pleaded guilty to one count of the unlawful killing of Mr Ryan on August 11, 2024 at their home address. She has no previous convictions. The mother-of-two forcefully pushed him to the ground, causing him severe head injuries. The 69-year-old was rushed to Beaumont Hospital but died the following day. James met Olesja in 2008 many years after he and his wife divorced. In passing sentence last Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said that on the night in question Hertova "lost her temper with Mr Ryan and pushed him forcefully." "I have no doubt she did not intend to kill him," said Judge Nolan. However, now Mr Ryan's family have spoken out saying changes in the law are needed as despite having no convictions, they say Hertova was abusing Mr Ryan on a regular basis - with proof of logged calls, calls to gardai and Tusla. "This time it was one push too many," they say. "The full scope of the prolonged abuse and our father's documented history of physical abuse against him by his killer was systematically left out of the case," James's daughters Karen and Lynn told Irish Mirror. Olesja Hertova "Our dad reported incidents of abuse to the authorities but he struggled to follow through with the formal court proceedings. "Gardai were called numerous times to the house since 2010 because of the domestic violence she inflicted on James. "Tusla were involved because of their 16-year-old daughter Eliska being in the home and there was a safety plan in place through Tusla that James would take Eliska out of the house or that he would walk away when she started abusing him," they said. "And that's what he did that night. He was walking away. He wasn't about to get into the car after drinking because he never drank and drove and he didn't even have car keys in his hand. The full CCTV showed that. The full CCTV wasn't shown in court, only a part of it," explained Karen. Karen and Lynn also plan on lodging a complaint with the Director of Public Prosecutions in the way evidence in the case was presented. "There are flaws in the legal system. It's not the DPPs fault but I think they could have done more for James and his family," they said. Family members of the late James Ryan, (L-R) Lynn, James and Karen. "The change we want is that the history of domestic violence be allowed to be admitted in such cases, even if there is no conviction. "In our dad's case, there's call logs, recorded calls, gardai calling to the house, neighbours as witnesses," said Karen, adding that any reference made to the domestic violence their dad suffered were redacted from their Victim Impact Statements. "There was a lot taken out of our victim impact statements and what we were really disappointed in and we only found this out the day before that the defence team could look at them and maybe redact further stuff we wrote. "It just seems there is more support for the defendant than the victim." "Even the DPP was advocating for a lower sentence, which I found disgusting, like, because they should be advocating for the victim and the victim's family," said Karen. In her victim impact statement, James and Olesja's daughter Eliska, who was in the house at the time her mother 'forcefully' pushed her dad and he subsequently died, Eliska said: "When she drank she would sometimes turn into someone I didn't recognise, angry, unpredictable and hard to reach. "I have seen the CCTV footage of what went on that night," said Karen. "And the full CCTV was shown when she was applying for bail but got refused. "And the words of the judge at that hearing was that there was only one person who was thinking of herself that night, and that was Olesja because the judge saw the full CCTV showing her running at my dad, literally like a rugby player, and tackled him onto ground. "He fell down, fell on his head and actually bounced off the ground. She then dragged his body between two parked cars and went in and left him there. And there were no words spoken on the CCTV despite it being said in court she told him not to drive because he had drink on him. "Myself and Karen are discussing to try and bring about some change in the law to have evidence of abuse admitted in court - whether it's phone calls being logged to make sure that it's not just that someone needs a conviction that a phone call, people talk and people witnessing other fights in the relationship," said Lynn. During the sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Eoin McDonald told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Hertova and Mr Ryan had been in a relationship for sixteen years and have a 16-year-old daughter together. On the day in question, Mr Ryan had purchased a half-bottle of vodka for Hertova to have at a barbecue at their house. Once she had consumed the bottle of vodka, she went to the shop and purchased more alcohol. After the barbecue, Mr Ryan went to a local pub and at 1am was seen entering a takeaway. He then took a taxi home, arriving at 1.30 am. The court heard that when Mr Ryan arrived home, both he and Hertova began to argue, and Mr Ryan walked out the front door of his home Hertova followed him out and then pushed Mr Ryan, and he fell to the ground. The court heard Hertova went to walk back into the house, but then turned and went over to Mr Ryan and fixed his glasses. Their daughter came out of the house, neighbours also came over, and an ambulance was called. At first, Mr Ryan was unconscious, and there was blood coming from his ear. When he regained consciousness, he was unable to stand up. He was taken to hospital where he died the following day. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 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