LAST UPDATE | 3 Jun

THE FORMER PARTNER of Natalie McNally has been handed a life sentence by a judge in Belfast Crown Court.

Stephen McCullagh gave no reaction as he was told he must serve 31 years before he can be considered eligible for release by the Parole Board for the murder of his pregnant partner Natalie McNally.

There was silence in the public gallery filled with Ms McNally’s family and friends as they watched McCullagh being led from the dock following the hearing at Belfast Crown Court.

McCullagh (36) of Woodland Gardens, Lisburn, was found guilty of the murder of Ms McNally by a jury at Belfast Crown Court earlier this year.

The 32-year-old was 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to a violent attack and murdered at her home in Lurgan in December 2022.

McCullagh denied the murder, claiming that he had been live-streaming himself playing computer games on his YouTube channel at the time.

But police experts discovered the six-hour stream had actually been filmed four days before, and broadcast as live on 18 December.

Stephen McCullagh’s staged YouTube live stream of him playing computer games on the night he killed Natalie McNally was an “integral” part of his plan of murder her, a judge has said.

McCullagh denied the murder to detectives, claiming that he had been live-streaming on his YouTube channel at the time.

But police experts discovered the six-hour stream had actually been filmed four days before and broadcast as live on December 18.

Delivering sentencing remarks at Belfast Crown Court today, trial judge Mr Justice Kinney said the staged live stream had been “carefully curated to appear as if it was streaming live and to provide the defendant a carefully-planned complete alibi to the murder”.

Cold-blooded and calculated

Ordering Stephen McCullagh to stand before he set the 31-year prison term, judge Mr Justice Kinney said the sentence passed “cannot possibly reflect the value of Natalie’s life, or indeed that of her unborn child, Dean” or meet the family’s sense of “grief and loss”.

“Stephen McCullagh, you have committed a brutal and senseless murder,” he said.

“You planned this murder in remorseless detail. You attacked someone you profess to love in a frenzied assault, which was characterised by its excessive and gratuitous violence.

“Despite that frenzy, the killing was cold-blooded and calculated, as evidenced by the extensive planning leading up to the murder and your actions afterwards. Your behaviour towards the McNally family showed your absolute determination to cover your tracks.”

The judge also said that McCullagh mounted a “concerted effort” to pass the blame for murdering Natalie McNally to her ex-boyfriend, a judge has said.

Mr Justice Kinney highlighted that McCullagh spent time with Ms McNally’s family in the aftermath of her death.

The judge said McCullagh presented to the family as “devastated, distraught and shocked”.

“When he first arrived at the house on Christmas Day, during Natalie’s wake, the family brought him in and comforted him,” said the judge.

“They allowed him to spend extensive time alone with Natalie, ostensibly to grieve for her.”

The judge said when considering the tariff he assessed McCullagh’s culpability as “extremely high”, describing the murder as a “brutal and frenzied attack”.

Last month’s hearing

A sentencing hearing in May was told that McCullagh made “self-contradictory” and “incredible” statements to his probation officer, first insisting he “was convinced that he was not guilty of the murder”.

The probation officer further noted McCullagh described the murder as “evil” and “vicious”, and referred to himself as “a monster”, the court heard.

He also said: “I’m sorry for what I did to that poor family, what I did to Natalie.”

He added: “I would take it back if I could.”

Trial judge Mr Justice Kinney is expected deliver the sentence tariff later.