A man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Northern Ireland punched his former partner, a court heard.
Stephen McCullagh also covertly recorded the woman’s counseling sessions just months before he met and allegedly killed Natalie McNally, Belfast Crown Court was told on Friday.
McCullagh, 36, from Lisburn, Co Antrim, denies murdering McNally, 32, who was found dead at her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in December 2022. She was subjected to a prolonged assault which included stabbings to the neck, strangulation and severe blows to the head, according to a state pathologist.
Prosecutors allege McCullagh uploaded a pre-recorded gaming session to YouTube and pretended it was a live stream to concoct an alibi for a crime that was “planned, calculated and premeditated.”
On Friday, the ninth day of the trial, the ex-girlfriend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she met McCullagh in 2015 and they had an on-off relationship for seven years. At the end of 2019, they met at his house to try to reconcile after a breakup, he said.
McCullagh became angry after discovering he had been sending messages and images to another man, the woman said. “He abruptly pushed me, took my phone and pushed me into the bathtub.”
Later that night, as McCullagh was driving the woman home, she tried to take her own life by jumping out of the moving car, he said. McCullagh pulled her back and allegedly punched her. “He punched me in the temple. He said I could kill myself whenever I wanted.”
McCullagh’s defense lawyer, John Kearney KC, said his client did not remember a physical fight in the bathroom and intervened in the car to save his life.
The ex-girlfriend said McCullagh threatened to send photographs from her phone to her family, friends and colleagues and burn sentimental items of hers that were in her home. The defense disputed both claims.
The couple separated again, resumed contact in 2021 and in January 2022 the woman discovered that she was pregnant. After the baby was stillborn, she received counseling and some sessions were held in the living room of McCullagh’s home, where she lived for several months. During the sessions McCullagh went to his bedroom.
In 2024, police told the woman that recordings of counseling appointments had been found on McCullagh’s computer. He said he had thought the sessions were confidential.
The defense said McCullagh had offered to record the sessions to help her get the most out of the counseling and that she had accepted.
The couple split in early summer 2022. A few weeks later, McCullagh began dating McNally, whom he met on the dating app Bumble.
Prosecutors allege that on December 14, 2022, McCullagh made a six-hour recording of himself playing Grand Theft Auto and Robot Wars and streamed it on his YouTube account on December 18 to give the impression that he was at home when in reality he was 17 miles away, committing murder.
He allegedly disguised himself, took a bus to Lurgan, walked to McNally’s house, killed her and took a taxi home.
On Friday, a taxi driver, Jeffrey McAvoy, told the court that on the night of the murder he booked a ticket next to Fa’ Joe’s bar in Lurgan town centre. McAvoy picked up the passenger at 10:40 p.m., he said. “He was a big person and he put a bag at his feet.”
The passenger asked to be taken to Lisburn, was dropped off outside a house in Woodland Gardens at 11.13pm and paid in cash.
A jury of six men and six women is hearing the case before Judge Kinney. The trial was expected to last five weeks.
