THE FAMILY OF murdered Dublin woman Anna Finnegan has said the “weight of the world ” has been lifted off their shoulders following the conviction of Anna’s former partner Vesel Jahiri today.
Lisa Finnegan, a sister of the deceased, spoke outside the Criminal Courts of Justice following today’s verdicts. She said the trial had been “gruelling, exhausting and mentally draining” but that “the jury had made the right decision”.
“They (the jury) can sleep tight tonight as they have put a very dangerous man away. I urge any young girls out there who are suffering the same as Anna did to come forward and speak to somebody, anybody, somebody will help you,” she said.
Lisa said Anna told her she felt “so alone sometimes” but appealed to young girls that there are people out there who can help them such as a” next-door neighbour, friend, mother, auntie, somebody”.
She said she was “so happy” as they had got justice for Anna today. “We could not be happier unless our sister was here with us,” she said.
Lisa said that while it had been a long time to wait, “the weight of the world” had been lifted off her shoulders. “He (Jahiri) absconded for a year-and-a-half and we lived in pure terror for that time,” she said.
Referring to the prosecuting barrister getting punched in the face by Jahiri last Friday, Lisa Finnegan said she did not think that “could happen” in a court “in this day and age”. “The world wasn’t ready for this person,” she said.
Lisa said Jahiri “lunged” at her brother, Karl Finnegan, last Friday and he had not been able to come back to court since then. “It has shaken him up bad. It shook us all up very very bad. We are very scared of this man and now the world can see why Anna was so terrified of him and why Anna could never say anything,” she said.
“We are just glad the whole thing is over now and we can move on with our lives, try and be happy again and try and live without Anna,” she said.
Lisa Finnegan said she will visit Anna’s grave. “My parents, my brother, my sister, I just want to be with them now and spend some time with them,” she said.
Janice O’Neill, a friend of the deceased, said she “could not believe” that Anna had got “the justice she deserved”. “It’s taken five very hard years for all of us. I just can’t believe the animal is locked up. Thank god,” she said.
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