A 34-year old man accused of murdering his pregnant partner Natalie McNally was refused bail on Friday on grounds including concerns of his alleged “mastery of media.”
Stephen McCullagh - who has denied murdering Ms McNally in her home in Lurgan in December 2022 - launched the bid to be released from custody at Belfast Crown Court.
Ms McNally was aged 32 and 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed. She sustained stab wounds and compression to the neck as well as blunt force wounds to the head.
The accused, from Woodland Gardens in Derryaghy, appeared for the bail hearing via a videolink with HMP Maghaberry.
As Ms McNally’s family sat in the public gallery, a crown prosecutor outlined several objections to McCullagh’s release.
Saying there was a “prima facie” case against McCullagh, prosecuting barrister Charles MacCreanor KC said it was the Crown’s case that the murder of Ms McNally was “executed with a great deal of planning and pre-meditation.”
The prosecutor said it was also the Crown’s case that the murder was “in the context of domestic violence and was that of a single female in her own home who was pregnant at the time.”
Mr MacCreanor said this included the lengths McCullagh went to in provided a “false alibi” which included doctoring a live youTube stream.
The Crown KC told Mr Justice O’Hara that when McCullagh “last saw” Ms McNally, he told her he would be live-steaming himself playing computer games which he also advertised on Twitter.
Saying McCullagh “deliberately led” the deceased into believing he would be at home live-streaming all night, Mr MacCreanor said this included a text he sent to Ms McNally which said ‘right, I’m away to stream the night away, wish me luck’, to which she replied ‘good luck. I might have a peep at your live stream later.’
This live stream, Mr MacCreanor said, was now known to be pre-recorded and was both “contrived” and a “significant piece of evidence in this case.”
He added on December 19, the day after the murder, McCullagh sent texts to Ms McNally expressing concerns she may have slipped into diabetic coma - but failed to voice these concerns to her family.
The prosecutor told the senior judge that in the aftermath of Ms McNally’s death, McCullagh “interacted” with her family and “presented as the innocent party which we say he is not” and that he also covertly recorded her loved ones “in his absence.”
Mr MacCreanor also raised McCullagh’s browsing history in November 2022 which included searches such as ‘in an execution by gunshot, is it more painful to be shot in the head or the heart’ and ‘which is less painful, drowning or burning to death.’
Defence barrister Craig Patton spoke of the “presumption of innocence” that his client was entitled to and an assurance that he would abide by any bail conditions imposed.
Regarding the issue of live-streaming, Mr Patton said it’s was McCullagh’s case that he was streaming a pre-recorded video and was present when it was being streamed.
He added: “That content wasn’t live, but it was being streamed by him and that is a common practice by people who provide content.”
He also said that due to court pressures “this matter is unlikely to come to trial” until well into next year.
After listening to submissions from both the Crown and defence, Mr Justice O’Hara spoke of the suggestions that McCullagh was a “mastery of media” and a “particularly skillful and manipulative individual.”
Mr Justice O’Hara said he was “satisfied at this stage that there is a real risk of an interference with the justice of this” if a man deemed by the Crown as being “particularly and significantly manipulative is released on bail ... and accordingly bail is refused.”
Members of Ms McNally’s family started clapping in the public gallery and were told to stop by the Judge who said they were here to “witness” and “not participate” in the proceedings.
Mr Justice O’Hara then set the date for the murder trial to commence as Tuesday May 6, 2025.