Tonight’s episode of the Late Late Show is set to be a heartbreaking one. RTE has just confirmed that the family of murdered student Nicola Furlong will appear on the programme and give their first TV interview since they returned home from Japan.
The tweet from RTE simply said the following:
According to reports today, Nicola’s family are now planning to sue the hotel in Tokyo where she was murdered.
“If [the hotel] had done what they should have done, Nicola mightn’t be dead,” said Andrew Furlong, Nicola’s father.
The 21-year-old student, who was originally from county Wexford, was found strangled in the Keoi Plaza hotel in Tokyo last May. She had been studying in the country as part of her college degree programme at Dublin City University.
Ms Furlong met Hinds after attending a concert on the night of her death.
Earlier this week, 19-year-old Richard Hinds from Tennessee in the USA was found guilty of the murder of the student and sentenced to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 10 years in prison with labour.
The sentencing judge stated that throughout the trial, Hinds had shown no signs of remorse and had tainted the honor of the young woman.
The prosecution had argued for a 10-year prison sentence during the trial – as Richard Hinds is still considered to be a minor in Japanese law, this is the maximum sentence he can recieve in the country.
Since Hinds was sentenced, Nicola’s family have said that they do not feel they got justice for Nicola.
“I am so angry and I am so hurt, we had so much faith in the Japanese doing justice for us and I don’t feel we got it, I am disgusted,” said Andrea Furlong, Nicola’s 19-year-old sister, speaking outside the court after the verdict was given.
“We hope it’s more than five and up to ten. If he is good in jail he will be out in five, it is only two years more than the other fella,” said Andrew.
Last week James Blackston, a friend of Hinds who was present on the night of Nicola’s death, was convicted of sexually assaulting the student’s friend. He recieved a three-year prison sentence.
