Family of Sonia Blount urge people to be wary of people they meet online

Sonia's sister and father, Claire Reddin and Chris Blount, spoke on RTÉ Claire Byrne Live about how easily Sonia was tricked into trusting Eric Locke's fake online profile.

"Just be so careful. That Shane Cully Facebook page had friends, it had pictures, it had messages from people wishing him happy birthday. Like, there was no way if she looked at that she would have known it was fake," Claire said.

"You just have to be so careful. It was so foolish what she done, to meet somebody privately like that. You have to meet someone in a bar, or tell people where you’re going.

"We had no idea where was, so we had to spend half the next day looking for her. Whereas, if somebody had known, the process wouldn’t have drawn out so long the next day.

"No one would ever expect or think that anything like that would happen to you. We’re just a normal family, she was just a normal girl. You never dream that something like this would ever happen in your family."

Claire shared the impact of the recent trial on her family.

"It brought us a lot of relief," Claire said. "We were kind of doubting for a while - is he going to get away with this? We were doubting. We didn’t know whether to trust, did we?

"When the verdict came back, the relief we felt was amazing. He had to take responsibility for what he did."

Claire said the trial made them feel as if they were reliving some of the darkest days of their lives, and it has been especially difficult for Sonia's son, Jake.

"Because it’s three years later it’s like she’s died all over again because of the trial and the sentencing. The attention," said Claire.

"Jake – he’s six now, he has no privacy, his privacy is gone. Like when he was going to school, people didn’t know. A lot of people didn’t know that I wasn’t his Mammy. And now everybody knows."

Sonia's father described the day he learned of his daughter's death.

"My partner and myself drove to the hotel. And I saw her car there. I coudn’t tell you the registration of her car, but I knew it was her car. My heart just dropped. I knew," said Chris.

"When I went up and I seen the police man there, standing over the car, and I told him I was looking for my daughter, I was concerned. And I described my daughter and he just said, I think you better come with me.

"And he brought me to the hotel and he said we can be nearly certain it’s your daughter. And I wanted to see her but they wouldn’t let me see her."

Claire doesn't believe Locke is truly sorry.

"We don’t believe anything, we don’t believe his statements. And it’s very inconsistent what he said as well. He’s changed it so many times. We don’t believe a word he says," said Claire.

"He was never sorry. If he was sorry he never would have put us through that trial. Never. He should have pleaded guilty straight away. And even when he said it, it wasn’t even sincere. I think it was just to say it so that everyone would see it."