‘He took 3 lives ...he should serve 3 life sentences’

BROTHER OF SLAIN SHARON SLAMS CASH CASE

THE brother of slain Sharon Whelan has hit out at the sentencing of triple killer Andy Cash, saying: “Two lives have been ignored.”

This week evil murderer Cash (26) was handed down three life sentences that are to run at the same time for the brutal knife killings of his sister Lisa (18) and twin siblings Christy and Chelsea Cawley (eight) in Tallaght, Dublin, on September 4, 2022.

In an exclusive interview with The Star, John Whelan, whose sister Sharon (30) and her two daughters Zarah (seven) and Nadia (two) were murdered on Christmas Day in 2008, said the Cash case was very close to home.

“Absolutely this case has affected me. I was talking to my family about it and we were discussing the similarities and just how our hearts go out to that family, knowing what they have to go through,” he said.

“We know exactly what they are feeling. We have that shared experience so we know what the road is like and what’s still ahead of them.”

Like Cash, evil triple killer Brian Hennessy was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences, effectively meaning he serves just one.

Evil Hennessy raped and strangled Sharon, before setting fire to her home in Windgap, Co Kilkenny, killing her two girls

Zarah and Nadia in a

“The law only recognises one life. Again in our case, and I presume in the Cash case, I ask which one is he serving the sentence for? It diminishes the other two lives. The way the sentence has been handed down, two lives have been ignored.”

Heinous

John believes the law should recognise more heinous crimes like the one committed by Hennessy and Cash — and impose a ‘whole life’ sentence, similar to the UK. “My family has been calling for this ever since our case back in 2009; 15 years on we’re still being dragged through the system, which has caused so much stress and anxiety,” he said.

“I think if there was a deterrent there like a whole life order, handed down in situations like my family and what happened to the Cash family and other families, that would work. get out of jail. But the truth of the matter is he can apply for parole after 12 years. I’ve been asking for a long time for that to change,” he said.

In Ireland, the average life sentence now sees a person spending a minimum of 20 years behind bars. In more severe cases, some prisoners have remained in jail for upwards of 40 years.

John hopes Justice Minister Helen McEntee enacts a law to allow judges to hand down lengthier sentences for evil killers.