The heartbroken daughters of a west Belfast man who was murdered by his partner say they are the ones serving a life sentence as his killer was jailed for 14 years.
Tony Browne, 54, was stabbed by Wiktoria Maksymowicz, 35, as he lay sleeping in his bed at his west Belfast home in 2022.
Maksymowicz was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.
Speaking outside court Mr Browne’s daughters Bobbi-Leigh and Shannon McIlwaine said that their lives have been destroyed.
“He was so caring, he would have went out of his way for anyone. He let her into his house for free and that’s how she repaid him,” said Bobby-Leigh.
“There are no words to describe how traumatised I am. I wake up and I think about it, I go to sleep I think about it, I dream and I think about it, it will never go away, it will never get smaller, its always there.”
Sister Shannon said after almost two years of fighting for justice, she feels that she can start to grieve for the loss of her father.
“No amount of time will ever be enough it’s actually us who are serving the life sentence, but I feel 14 years was the best we were going to get in this situation,” said Shannon.
“I feel like in todays society you always hear about women being abused not men, and people don’t speak up enough about it or take it seriously enough. So I was happy when the judge mentioned that it was domestic abuse that killed my daddy.
“We cant just give up because she’s been sentenced. I feel we need to keep going raising awareness for men who are being abused every single day. Men who aren’t being listened to, who are embarrassed to speak up I want to keep going for them.”
In a statement Mr Browne’s family echoed that no sentence handed down to his murderer will ever bring him back or be enough.
They said: “Standing here today outside the court is something that none of us ever expected to be doing. We would rather be spending the time with Anthony ‘Tony’ Browne.
“He was a spiritual man who only ever saw the goodness in people unfortunately was also his vulnerability.
“During the course of his relationship with his murderer, she constantly manipulated him and subjected him to violence and unseen torture.
“The details of such which emerged during the court case are harrowing and simply disturbing.
“We hope now that Tony can finally rest in peace as his murderer is imprisoned.
“We would also call upon anyone experiencing domestic violence to come forward and seek help.
“You will be believed and supported, and especially for men, we would urge you to contact the charity Men’s Alliance NI.
“Our hope for the future is that no other person will this evil and despicable person and endure what we have.’’
Tony’s daughters Bobbi-Leigh and Shannon McIlwaine will run the Belfast Half Marathon this September 22 for the charity Men’s Alliance NI in memory of their father and to raise awareness of domestic abuse directed at men.
