The wife of the Traveller killed by Mayo farmer Pádraig Nally last year has criticised the decision to hold the trial in Mayo as she believes there is a lot of prejudice towards the Travelling community in the county.
In a statement issued yesterday through the Galway Travellers Support Group (GTSG), Mrs Marie Ward said that she was "not happy at all" that Nally had not been convicted of murder.
A Co Mayo jury took just over two hours on Wednesday to return a verdict of manslaughter against Nally (61), who had been charged with the murder last October of Mr John Ward (43), a father of 11.
He was remanded on bail by Mr Justice Paul Carney for sentencing on November 11th.
"My husband had been shot and badly beaten and on a public road trying to escape when Mr Nally shot him in the back and killed him," Mrs Ward said in her statement.
"Mr Nally said that it was like hitting a badger when he was hitting John and it seems to me that as far as Mr Nally was concerned John's life wasn't worth any more than a defenceless animal. That man was smiling away coming out of the court. I don't know how he could hold his head up and smile. He didn't look like somebody who was sorry for killing the father of my 11 children. I don't think the trial should have been held in Mayo."
She added: "Would the outcome in court today be different if it was a settled man that had been killed for walking into his yard? Me and my family fear that this will send out a message that it is okay to kill somebody so long as they are only a Traveller."