STEPHEN MCCULLAGH APPEALS SENTENCE FOR MURDERING PREGNANT PARTNER

Stephen McCullagh has lodged an appeal against his sentence for the murder of his pregnant partner Natalie McNally. McCullagh, from Lisburn in County Antrim, was found guilty in March following a trial lasting more than four weeks. He had denied the charge. The Public Prosecution Service has been notified of the appeal.

McCullagh received a 31-year sentence, which represents the minimum term he must serve in custody before parole commissioners can consider his release. Natalie McNally was killed at her home in Lurgan on 18 December 2022. At sentencing, Mr Justice Kinney characterised the offence as "a brutal and senseless murder planned in remorseless detail, cold-blooded and calculated".

The appeal process will now proceed through the courts. The 31-year minimum term means McCullagh will not be eligible for parole consideration until that period has elapsed, unless the appeal alters the sentence imposed.