D Wednesday, November 18, 2009 METRO Post-mortem examinations showed the two girls died from smoke inhala- tion but Sharon Whelan had been strangled and had a number of other injuries. Hennessy was arrested after a DNA sample taken from him was found to match DNA on Ms Whelans body. Speaking outside court yesterday, Ms Whelans brother John said the family were happy the ordeal had come to an end, and that through his admission, Hennessy had not put them through the trauma of a long trial. Although his sentence will not bring our girls back, it does go some way to bring some relief to our fami- ly, he said. We would also like to make it clear that we bear no animosity towards the Hennessy family, they cannot be held responsible for one mans actions. He and he alone must take that responsi- bility. Jack Murray from Mediacontact.ie and YouTubes Groovy Dancing Girl, Sophie Merry, wear crowns at the Content Is King conference in Dublins Guinness Storehouse Picture: Marc OSullivan Online king and queen last RaF squadron leaves the north THE last Royal Air Force squadron based in Northern Ireland left Aldergrove in Co Antrim yesterday. Flying in a diamond formation, the 230 Tiger Helicopter Squadron flew across parts of Counties Antrim and Down before heading over the Irish Sea. Destined for its new base at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, England, the last flight of Pumas marked the end of the RAFs 91-year history of flying from Northern Ireland. Wing Commander Rich Maddison said: This squadron could not have achieved all it has on operations over the past six years without the essential training we have been able to conduct. Sleeping husband strangled his wife A MAN suffering from a sleep disorder strangled his wife while dreaming he was attacking an intruder in their camper van. Brian Thomas, 59, accepts he caused the death of his wife Christine, 57. A court in Wales heard the defendant, from Neath, was a happily married man, who had a history of sleep walking. In July last year, the couple had been disturbed by young people in the car park where they had parked their camper van. In a call to police the next morning, Thomas said he had dreamt one of the boy racers had broken in and that he had put him in a headlock. But when he woke up he realised it was Christine and that she was dead. life in jail for murder of familyA 23-YEAR-OLD postal worker has been sentenced to three life terms in prison for the Christmas 2008 murder of a Kilkenny mother and her two young daughters. Brian Hennessy from Windgap, Kil- kenny, strangled Sharon Whelan and set fire to her home in an attempt to cover his tracks, killing seven-year- old Zara and two-year-old Nadia in the process. Their bodies were discovered on Christmas Day by neighbours who had spotted smoke coming from the remote cottage in Roscon. Hennessy had initially denied mur- der but yesterday in front of the jury he pleaded guilty to the three counts. The court heard Hennessy had been drinking for ten hours on the day, and had called to Ms Whelans house where he claimed the couple had con- sensual sex. He said he strangled Ms Whelan af- ter she threatened to tell his girlfriend about it, and never thought about the children when he started the fire. BY ROSS McDONAGH index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html