RELATIVES and friends of one of Michael Bambrick's victims have expressed anger at the length of the jail sentence imposed on her killer.
Bambrick (43) was sentenced yesterday to concurrent sentences of 15 and 18 years for the manslaughter of his common law wife, Patricia McGauley, and another woman, Mary Cummins. A year of the sentence was suspended. With remission, he will serve 12 years at Arbour Hill where he will be kept with other sex offenders.
Ms Cummins's sister, Josephine, said she was convinced Bambrick could kill again.
"A plea of manslaughter should never have been accepted. Bambrick will be released when he is in his fifties. It is cases like this that would make you feel the death penalty should be introduced in Ireland. I am not just boiling I am crying inside. What happened to Mary will happen again," she said.
"When you look at Bambrick sitting there, knowing what he has done, you expect to see a monster. But the frightening thing is that he looks normal. He could easily fool another woman," she added.
Mr Luke Dowling, father of Mary Cummins's daughter, Samantha, said Bambrick should have been given a life sentence for killing and dismembering the two women. "They should have thrown away the key.
Ms Ruth Campbell, a friend of Mary Cummins, said after the hearing that she had told gardai of the link between Mary Cummins and Bambrick three weeks after her friend disappeared but that they failed to act on the information. A Garda spokesman declined to comment on the allegation.
Friends of the two women broke down in tears yesterday as the court was told how Bambrick tied the women's hands behind their backs and stuffed tights in the mouths during sexual intercourse.
Many covered their face as Mr Justice Carney read an account of how Bambrick cut up his victims with a hacksaw and dumped their bodies on waste ground in west Dublin.
Bambrick, dressed in a black jumper and blue jeans, looked directly at the bench as Mr Just ice Carney read through his 22 page judgment. He showed no emotion throughout the hearing.
