Woman jailed for 14 years

A woman will serve at least 14 years in jail for the murder of west Belfast man Tony Browne.

35-year-old Wiktoria Maksymowicz stabbed the father of three as he lay drunk and unconscious in his bed.

The judge told the court Maksymowicz inflicted “a history of casual domestic violence” onto Mr Browne.

“The domestic violence in this relationship was all one way,” he said.

He said Mr Browne was a “vulnerable man” and that Maksymowicz had “inflicted harm” on him “in a humiliating manner in front of others”.

The judge said Mr Browne was murdered without provocation as he lay “unconscious” in his bed.

The court heard that Mr Browne “had a difficult life” and a dependency on alcohol but “had been sober for 10 years before meeting Maksymowicz”.

The court was told that Mr Browne’s daughters have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the trauma of their father’s murder.

Maksymowicz pleaded guilty in May to three offences ‘aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse’ including murder and was handed a life sentence.

The Polish national, with an address at Woodside Park, pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Browne on 14 October 2022 and possessing cannabis on the same date.

She also admitted charges of possessing a knife on a Glider bus and assaulting Mr Browne the day before his murder, on 13 October 2022.

On Wednesday, Maksymowicz, appearing before Belfast Crown Court, was told she will serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.

Mr Browne had three children – Bobbi-Leigh, Shannon and Ryan.

Speaking outside court, his twin daughters described the impact losing their dad has had on them.

Shannon McIlwaine said: “No amount of time will ever be enough.”

“It’s us that’s serving a life sentence but 14 years is the best we were going to get,” she added.

“I have a pit in my stomach every day and it doesn’t go away. In today’s society you always hear about women being abused – never men being abused. No one takes it seriously.”

Bobbi-Leigh McIlwaine said there are “no words to describe the trauma” it has caused.

“I go to bed and I think of it. I wake up and I think about it. I dream about it. It never gets smaller, it’s always there,” she said.

“This wasn’t just an attack – this was abuse. My daddy was abused by this woman”.

In a statement following the sentencing on Wednesday, Mr Browne’s family said “no sentence handed down to his murderer will ever bring him back or be enough”.

“Tony was a kind, generous, loving, humorous and beautiful human being,” the family said.

“He was a spiritual man who only ever saw the goodness in people and while others might disparage someone, Tony would be the lone voice who would quietly point out a person’s better virtues,” the family said.

“The virtue of only seeing the good in people unfortunately was also his vulnerability,” they said.

“While others could see the darkness in his murderer, Tony could not.”

“We now hope now that Tony can finally rest in peace as his murderer is imprisoned,” the family said.

The family added: “We, his children, family and friends will continue to remember a warm, caring and loving man, and we are proud and humbled to have known him and spent time in his company.”

In a statement on Wednesday, PSNI Det Isp Stuart Campbell described Mr Browne’s murder as “the most senseless, brutal and irreversible act of violence”.

“I’m deeply aware, however, that the heartache felt by Tony’s loving family goes on. My thoughts, and the that of my team, are with them,” he added.

Det Isp Campbell said this was a “tragic case of domestic homicide” and urged any victims of abuse, “whatever the circumstances”, to come forward.

The Public Prosecution Service’s (PPS) senior public prosecutor Margaret Kinney said she hoped Wednesday’s sentencing hearing “will help provide some healing and closure” to the family of Mr Browne.

“Anyone can be the victim of domestic abuse. It is never acceptable, and this case shows that it can have the worst possible outcome,” Ms Kinney said.

She urged anyone experiencing domestic abuse to seek help and report it to police.