It was Christmas morning 2008 when something out of a nightmare visited a young family.

Sharon Whelan was a young, loving mother to two beautiful children - seven-year-old Zara and two-year-old Nadia, who were in bed awaiting Santa's arrival.

In the early hours, postman Brian Hennessey showed up at Sharon's home in Windgap, Co. Kilkenny, raping her and strangling her to death before setting the house alight. Sharon and her children lay dead among the ruins.

Here, Sharon's brother John Whelan recounts the horror, and speaks about how the family and the Garda worked to get justice for Sharon. He also speaks about his advocacy for victims' families, and the ongoing battle against concurrent life sentences.

John's story is the third in this season of Shattered Lives.

You can listen and subscribe to all of the episodes here:

Spotify: spoti.fi/3FjNnrF

Apple: https://apple.co/30Eh0Fg

Audioboom: https://bit.ly/30CCzpD

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