youtuber stephen mcculllagh He has been sentenced to a minimum of 31 years in prison for the murder of his 15-weeks-pregnant girlfriend, Natalie McNally, in 2022. It is one of the longest prison sentences ever handed down in Northern Ireland.
Former YouTuber Stephen McCullagh will only serve 31 years in prison after murdering Natalie McNally
In March, a jury at Belfast Crown Court found McCullagh, 36, guilty of murdering his 32-year-old girlfriend at their home in Lurgan on December 18, 2022, according to reports BBC. This decision came after five weeks of hearing.
Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, gave details of the crime through the officer website NI of Police Service. They described, “On the night of Sunday 18 December, a week before Christmas, McCullagh traveled to Natalie’s home in Lurgan. Here, he launched a sustained and shockingly violent attack which took the lives of Natalie and her unborn son.”
“After returning to his Lisburn home, McCullagh revisited the address approximately 24 hours later, after which, pretending not to know the tragic scene, he phoned the ambulance service. Here, and for weeks thereafter, he presented himself as a distraught and caring partner,” McGuinness continued.
The officer added, “Stephen McCullagh was arrested at the scene and initially released. Following a painstaking and massive investigation, which included hundreds of door-to-door inquiries and examining thousands of hours of CCTV footage, he was re-arrested and charged.” He then added, “McCullagh had pretended to be livestreaming the time of Natalie’s murder for six hours on a social media platform. In reality, he had driven some distance from his home and taken a bus to Lurgan to carry out his attack – concealing his presence the entire time.”
On 3 June, when McCullagh appeared before Belfast Crown Court, he showed no emotion. When sentencing, Mr Justice Kinney called Natalie “a strong, loving and independent young woman”. Guardian.
They discussed McCullagh’s attempt to create a fake livestream as an alibi. According to, “This was not a spontaneous murder but a planned murder.” BBC. “Domestic violence is a seriously recurring phenomenon in our society,” and called the attack “brutal and deranged.”
McNally’s father Noel spoke to the media after the sentencing. He said, as stated BBC“Today, we are not celebrating the sentencing, as Bernie (mom), my three boys and I are serving a life sentence for the murder of our beloved Natalie. But hopefully it will help stop and prevent violence against women and girls in this country.”
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