The detective inspector who investigated the case of James ‘Shey’ Ryan, who was killed by his partner, is appealing to victims of domestic violence to come forward, saying “don’t suffer in silence.”
Det Insp Brian Downey was speaking following the conviction of Olesja Hertova for the manslaughter of her partner.
The 50-year-old mother of two, who has a teenage daughter with Mr. Ryan, aged 69, was jailed on July 4 for two years and nine months for forcibly pushing her partner to the ground following a row at their home on August 10, 2024.
Mr. Ryan had left the house, and Hertova was captured on CCTV running towards him and pushing him to the ground. He suffered severe brain injuries and died the next day.
The couple’s 16-year-old daughter, Ellie Ryan, spoke to the on Tuesday, where she described living in a “house full of hostility” for years, where she felt she had to protect her father from her mother.
Det Inspector Downey said the case is one of domestic violence, and that he is urging anyone who was suffering in silence like Mr. Ryan to “come forward and talk to us.”
“You will be believed,” he said. “With domestic homicides we have become accustomed to the women who are the victim, but that is not always the case.
“The message we have coming from this case, is that if you are a victim of domestic violence, don’t stay silent.
“Just because you’re a man don’t think you have to stay silent and that no one will believe you, come and talk to us, we will believe you, we will listen to you and we will gather the evidence to work on a prosecution and we will support the victim all the way through the process.”
Figures from Men’s Aid Ireland show in 2023, 8,682 men made contact for domestic violence support and at least one in seven men will experience domestic violence.
Hertova was jailed after pleading guilty to killing her partner of 17 years after viewing the CCTV footage captured on her neighbour’s cameras. However, his children said she has been “abusing him for years but he stayed silent”.
Mr. Ryan’s children Karen, Lynn, and James described their suffering over losing their “gentleman” father in victim impact statements to the court along with his sisters Una, Jacqueline, and Deirdre.
Ellie Ryan, who was in the house the night her father died, spoke about holding on to her dying father as he lay on the ground covered in blood.
“It haunts me to this day,” she said. “I will never forget it; my mother turned into a different person when she drank.”
Garda Downey said the evidence of Ellie Ryan was “hard to listen to.”
“In particular, Ellie was forthright, and forthcoming and I particularly acknowledged that she felt her safe space was taken when her father died.
“She also said, which is harrowing, that she still loves her mum but she can’t understand her and can’t come to comprehend what’s happened and is finding it very difficult to accept the loss of her father”.
The Ryan sisters have told the they discovered two safety orders secured by their father against Hertova after he died.
“For multiple reasons victims become used to normalised behaviour and abuse and come to accept it and they put in their own protection mechanism, they internalise it and they said it is their fault.
“Nobody should feel they have to stay silent, we will listen to you”, said Garda Downey.
