'Evil' car park killer sentenced
A Polish national found guilty of murdering a vulnerable woman in Ballymena has been sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Friday, 04 December 2009
Former meat plant worker Henryk Gorski, 52, was convicted of the murder by a jury at Antrim Crown Court last October.
Shirley Finlay was killed two days before turning 25 in Gorski's Ballymena flat in September 2006.
Her naked body, wrapped in a duvet cover bound in black bin bags, was discovered in the Hill Street car park of Ballymena Baptist Church.
The victim had a history of mental health problems and had been in and out of care from a young age.
Speaking outside Laganside court complex Shirley's foster mother Mary Corry said justice had been done.
"We are just all delighted that this is over, it is a relief to us", she said.
"I think justice was done to-day for Shirley.
"I would hope that this is the last time that this man can hurt anyone, any young woman."
When asked how the family felt about Shirley's killer, Mrs. Corry said: "Gorski will never be anything to this family, as far as we are concerned it is over."
'Evil'
Following Gorski's conviction in October, the PSNI had described him as an "evil man" who had killed a "vulnerable and defenseless young woman".
"He is still in denial and has shown no remorse," they said at the time.
Imposing the minimum life tariff at Belfast Crown Court on Friday, judge Mr. Justice Hart told Gorski there was no doubt he had repeatedly hit his victim about the head before he strangled her, subjecting her to "considerable violence" before dumping her naked body in a skip.
"This was a brutal murder and the defendant's motive can only be a matter of speculation because there was no evidence of sexual contact but whatever happened, there is no doubt that he strangled Shirley Finlay and then dumped her body," said the judge.
He added that leaving her naked body wrapped in a duvet in a skip at a car park on Mount Street had been "callous in the extreme".
Mr Justice Hart also said that at the time of the killing in September 2006, Gorski was on bail charged with rape.
After his alleged victim refused to testify against him, Gorski was acquitted of that offence but Mr Justice Hart said he considered the fact he was on bail when he killed Shirley was "an aggravating feature".
During his summing up the judge said in the last year of her life Shirley had been out of
contact with her family and was frequently seen walking through the town talking to herself and had been seen regularly drinking on the street.
Mr Justice Hart said there was evidence that her heavy drinking had coincided with the deterioration in her mental health and she was "an individual who was becoming increasingly isolated."
© UTV News