Mother-of-two Jennifer Poole was just 24 years old when her former boyfriend Gavin Murphy knifed her to death on April 17, 2021.
Unbeknown to Jennie or her family, Murphy, 31, had a string of previous convictions and a history of violence against women.
On the second anniversary of her death, her heartbroken brother Jason Poole outlines why we urgently need a national Domestic Violence Register to protect others from suffering the same fate:
On the 17th of April 2021 our world fell apart when our beloved Jennie was murdered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Gavin Murphy.
Jennifer was 24 years old when her life was taken from her in the most horrendous of circumstances. Jennifer was beautiful inside and out.
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She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. She gave of her time to make the lives of others even better.
Jennifer loved life and was a real family person. She would always have a smile and laugh, and we miss this
so much.
Jennifer was one of the most caring people you could meet. She would help anyone.
She worked as a carer in a nursing home. She was full of empathy for others and always wanted to make a difference in the lives of others.
The bond that Jennifer had with us, her family, was something we will treasure. She loved to celebrate events like Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
As a family we do not even have the words to describe the pain and heartache we have each and every day. We are lost and shattered that our Jennie is not here with us enjoying life.
Days and nights are longer; we spend many of those nights awake thinking about her – where you are and what life is like where you are.
The suffering you went through and that final day, and what happened to you. That day lives in our heads every day.
There are days we spend the whole day speaking about her, asking questions, but then it breaks our hearts as I can’t get those answers. Jennifer never leaves our minds.
Her two children miss her so much and talk about her every day – the most important person in their life, their mammy.
It is hard some days to have to face the reality that they will never get to see their mammy again.
Jennifer was one in a million, a beautiful person, a fantastic mother to her two children.
She had her whole life ahead of her and was thinking of going back to college to train to be a nurse. She loved her sport and her target was to win player of the year.
We are tormented at the thoughts of what Jennifer endured, unable to defend herself, and that she spent her last minutes on earth with the very worst of humanity with none of us beside her.
Gavin Murphy went to her home with the intentions to kill her that day. We, as a family, are very sure of this.
We see those red flags now and the different events and situations, including withdrawing Jennifer from her friends, the activities and the fact she stopped doing the things she always enjoyed.
We want to make a change and protect others so that others don’t have to suffer the way Jennifer suffered at the hands of her abuser.
Jennifer was let down by our justice system.
Her killer had a history of domestic violence and had spent time in prison, but did not do the time he deserved for that offence, something which Jennifer or us her family were not aware of.
Since we lost Jennifer we were given a life sentence, one without parole. We will never get Jennifer back.
We believe that if we had a register in Ireland for those convicted of domestic violence that Jennifer would still be with us today.
As a family we will fight for Jennifer’s name. We will fight for legislation to protect the women
of Ireland.
We have asked for a range of measures and legislation to be put in place.
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