A woman who was jailed for killing her partner in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, is set to be deported to the Czech Republic this week, the Irish Examiner reports.
As Gript previously reported, Olesja Hertova, 49, of Hastings Lawn, Balbriggan, was sentenced to two years and nine months for the manslaughter of her husband James “Shay” Ryan.
Hertova pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Ryan on the 11th of August 2024, at the couple’s home. CCTV from a neighbour’s house, obtained by Gardaí days after the incident, captured Hertova pushing Mr Ryan (69) to the ground outside their front door, after he had returned home in the early hours of the morning.
Their teenage daughter, Ellie, witnessed the incident before calling her father’s other daughter, from a previous relationship, Karen, and an ambulance.
As a result of the fall, Mr Ryan suffered a shallow subdural haemorrhage and was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where his condition deteriorated; he died on the evening of the 11th of August.
A medical report determined that although he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and COPD, these did not cause his death and that he died from blunt-force injuries sustained in the fall.
Judge Martin Nolan set a headline sentence of five years for what he called the “unlawful killing” of Mr Ryan, saying he had no doubt Hertova had not intended to kill her partner. This was reduced to two years and nine months with mitigation, taking into account her remorse and lack of previous convictions. The judge remarked that Hertova had “probably temporarily destroyed her relationship with her daughter.”
Hertova was due for release from the Dóchas Women’s Prison, but on the morning she was expected out, she was informed by officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau that she was now subject to a deportation order and would be returned to the Czech Republic.
Delivering her victim impact statement, Ellie said that her heart was “destroyed” since the loss of her dad, who “made me feel safe” in a “home filled with fear” and “shouting”.
The girl said she had “learned to read every sign to predict what would come next” in that home.
She said she felt that she had to protect her dad, who in turn would do “everything to make me feel safe”, including “sleeping in the car on cold nights” to get away from Hertova.
Ellie said her dad was “generous and always ready to help” and that “when everything around me felt cold and dangerous he was the one place I could go.”
She said she had been “haunted” by the fear of “losing him” growing up.
A prison source told the Examiner that Hertova was released from custody on her criminal sentence but immediately re-arrested within the prison complex in connection with the immigration process.
Karen Ryan, Mr Ryan’s eldest daughter, told the Irish Examiner she had been informed Hertova was being deported this week, saying it meant a great deal to a family who had been “living in fear and dread” about her release, with “nothing stopping her from returning to Balbriggan.” She said the family, who are now raising Ellie (17), could finally begin to grieve, and that Ellie could focus on her Leaving Cert after a difficult period.
The family’s earlier deportation call
In an earlier Irish Examiner report by Alison O’Reilly, Karen Ryan detailed the family’s frustration with the official channels available to them. She said they had written to the Minister for Justice, who directed them to the Prison Victim Liaison Officer.
She said it was explained that the office’s remit was limited to dealing with inmates, whereas their concern was specifically about deportation.
Karen said the end of the prison sentence did not mean the end of the matter for the family, arguing that completing a sentence does not automatically make victims’ families feel safe or protected. She said responsibility for the family’s safety now rested with her and her sister Lynn, and that she would take no chances in protecting Ellie or the wider family.