Ibolya Ryan’s widower hopes jail term will deter others from terror

Ibolya Ryan had been working in the UAE for about one year when she was attacked at random and stabbed to death with a kitchen knife inside the toilets of Boutik Mall on December 1, 2014.

Paul Ryan’s boys have settled well in Colorado with their sister Timea and are continuing to recover after their ordeal. Courtesy Paul Ryan

ABU DHABI // The widower of the American teacher stabbed to death on Reem Island has praised the UAE justice system after the killer's husband was sentenced to life in jail.

Mohammed Al Hashemi, husband of killer Alaa Al Hashemi, was convicted of terror offences and jailed on Monday by the Federal Supreme Court.

Alaa Al Hashemi was executed last year for the murder of kindergarten teacher Ibolya Ryan.

“I am comfortable that the UAE has carried things out thoroughly and seriously, and I trust the outcome will indeed help to dissuade such hateful undertakings in the future by individuals caught up in beastly ideological fervour,” Paul Ryan said on Tuesday.

“My ultimate hope is that the UAE will continue and expand all efforts to combat and root out the ingredients that advocate and foster such ideology in the first place. I trust the Government is doing exactly that.”

Ryan, 47, a mother of three, had been in the country working at Abu Dhabi Education Council’s Al Oula School for a year when she was attacked at random and stabbed to death with a kitchen knife in the toilets of Boutik Mall n December 1, 2014.

Her twin sons, Adam and Aidan, had been living with their mother and were waiting for her to return to a cafe when she was murdered. They were 11 at the time.

They have since rejoined their father and older teenage sister, Timea, in Colorado, US.

“Adam, Aidan and Timea have taken up their new life in Colorado wonderfully, and I am confident that will continue,” Mr Ryan said. “The loss of their mother has infused them with a seriousness of purpose about their own futures that is at once heartwarming, gratifying and sobering, and it stands witness that we can move past tragedy and rebuild better – that things not need end in despair.”

Mr Ryan also expressed his gratitude to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the people of the UAE for their support.

“Allow me to express here once again our appreciation for how the Crown Prince has been helping our family move past this tragedy, and for how the Emirati people have lent us strength all along with their warm wishes.”

Al Hashemi told prosecutors she wanted revenge after her husband was taken into custody. She said she wanted to create fear, especially for US, British and French expatriates.