Murder accused's tearful 999 call was an act, prosecution claims

A tearful 999 call made by the man accused of the murder of Natalie McNally was an act and part of his plan to "get away with it", a court has heard.

Stephen McCullagh, from Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, made the call from Natalie's home at about 22:00 GMT on 19 December 2022.

The 36-year-old, who denies the murder, can be heard sobbing and telling the call handler, "please come as soon as you can, she's pregnant, she's cold".

The court was also told that a "live stream" broadcast by the defendant the night before was in fact pre-recorded - prosecutors said it was during this time that McCullagh went to Natalie's house and killed her.

The court heard Natalie was pregnant when she was killed and that the defendant, McCullagh was the father of their unborn child.

She was found dead with stab wounds and blunt force injuries to her neck.

The prosecution opened its case to the jury of six men and six women in Belfast Crown Court on Monday, with the jury hearing the 999 call made by McCullagh.

In it, he was asked by the call handler: "Is the patient breathing?"

He was heard crying: "No, she's gone."

He added: "There's blood everywhere."

McCullagh told the call handler Natalie was 15 weeks pregnant and they "had a scan" the next day.

Charles MacCreanor KC told the court this was "a planned, calculated and premeditated murder by the defendant", which "he hoped to get away with".

MacCreanor told the jury that the evidence they would hear would point to the fact Natalie was killed in her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan between 20:50 and 21:30 on Sunday 18 December 2022.

At 21:50 the following evening McCullagh made the call, which lasted for 10 minutes.

The court was told that Natalie, 32, suffered "serious multiple stab wounds".

MacCreanor told the court that a pathologist noted "compression of her neck and noted bruising to her left and right, suggesting finger tips".

The court also heard Natalie had three wounds to her neck and blunt force trauma to her head caused by "at least five heavy blows".

The prosecution told the jury "both the neck compression and stabbing injuries could have caused death on their own".

MacCreanor revealed that after the emergency services arrived at the scene, McCullagh told police he knew what had happened and said an ex-partner of Natalie was responsible.

At the scene, McCullagh said he had been live streaming from 18:00 to 00:00 the night before and he thought Natalie was angry with him as he had been drinking alcohol during the stream.

He said she had not replied to his messages.

The prosecution said that McCullagh was not live streaming and had instead played a pre-recorded video.

MacCreanor said that while the stream was playing, McCullagh got the bus from Dunmurry to Lurgan, went to Natalie's home and killed her.

He is then said to have returned to his house in Lisburn by taxi.

McCullagh also told police the last time he heard from Natalie was at 19:59 on Sunday 18 December and that he had gone to her home on Monday evening as she was diabetic and he was concerned that she may have had a hypoglycemia attack.

He said he had found Natalie at the top of the stairs and had then called 999.

McCullagh was arrested at the scene on the evening of Monday 19 December 2022 on suspicion of murder.

He was interviewed the following day when he reiterated his claim that the last time he had seen Natalie was at his home and that he had called at her home the following evening to see if she was okay.

McCullagh also spoke of an "abusive" ex-partner and, due to his alibi that he was live streaming at the time of the murder, he was released from police custody on 20 December 2022.

Later, a paramedic described the moment he arrived at the scene of Natalie's home the night her body was found.

Graham Thompson told the court he was "first into the address".

He told the court it was clear that "a lot of blood had been lost" and that her "lips and hands were blue" when they arrived.

Thompson told the court that when he arrived a "gentleman was on his knees doing CPR" and there was a "significant amount of blood around the patient's head and shoulders".

He was asked by MacCreanor if he noticed any visible injuries.

He replied "there was a small puncture wound" visible on her neck.

Thompson said McCullagh was "visibly upset and actively preforming CPR".

He said he told the defendant there was "no hope of resuscitation at this stage" and that McCullagh was "quite upset about that".

The paramedic added it "looked like quite a suspicious scene" and when asked what the mood was like at the property he answered it was "quite frantic".

A police officer told the court that when she arrived at the scene there was a "strong foul smell".

Constable Archibald said the defendant was initially "visibly distraught" and that she was "trying to console him".

The court heard that McCullagh told the officer he "didn't speak with his family" but had a close friend that he would like to contact .

Archibald told the court that when she spoke to his friend he said: "It's Natalie, she's gone."

Another police officer told the court that when he arrived upstairs, he saw a knife.

Constable Feeley told the court: "The knife was about three or four feet behind her in the living room area."

He said there was "blood on the carpet, on the floor of the living room, on the walls".

He told the court that McCullagh was distraught and "almost falling about the place".

The court was played body worn footage of Feeley saying: "I know this is hard. I know this is hard. I apologise about this mate."