Crime World

Troubles with wedding dress shopping in an electronic tag, sports stars finding themselves on the wrong side of the law, and the week’s most bizarre story.

This is a Crime World weekly round up from crimeworld.com.

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The heartbroken family of murdered computer science student Qayyum Balogun believe he was chased down and murdered for trying to protect a girl from an assault during a music event.

The 21-year-old was stabbed to death in the early hours of Monday morning just off Grafton Street in Dublin. 

Nicola talks to Eimear Rabbitt about what happened to Qayyum and who the Gardai suspect in his murder.

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Stephen McCullagh will do at least 31 years of jail time before he is even considered for release. 

32-year-old Natalie McNally had been 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to a violent attack and murdered at her home in Lurgan in December 2022. 

The judge, Mr Justice Kinney, told McCullagh that he committed a “brutal senseless murder and planned it in remorseless detail.” 

“The killing was cold blooded and calculated.” 

McCullagh tried to pin the murder on Lewis Jones, Natalie’s ex-partner, after having set up a false alibi. But the jury rejected that and found McCullagh guilty of the murder at Belfast Crown Court earlier this year. 

Our Bel Tel colleagues Ciaran Dunbar and Kurtis Reid discuss what happened in court for the tariff hearing.  

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A new movie about the events of Bloody Sunday and the fight for justice in its aftermath is touring across the UK with huge interest from the United States and even Dubai.

Made with images and footage taken on the day, interviews with those who were there in January 1972 when British army paratroopers fired on unarmed civilians, and contributions from those who have fought for justice, The Day Innocence Died has likened events in Derry with those in Palestine.

Nicola speaks with Adrian Kerr of the Bloody Sunday Trust and filmmaker Hannan Majid on their collaboration which has created the box office hit.

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A jury has heard a police interview recording of a woman who claims she was raped as a child by Jeffrey Donaldson. Jurors at Newry Crown Court heard allegations against the former DUP leader by a woman who claims it happened when she was at primary school. She also alleged that Donaldson arranged for her to be sent to a Christian Rehabilitation Centre and apologised to her there.

Sixty-three-year-old Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences said to have taken place between 1985 and 2008 involving two complainants known as Witness A and B.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson faces a trial of the facts on aiding and abetting allegations after the trial judge ruled her medically unfit to stand trial.

Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph.

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Eleanor Donaldson “did nothing” when told of an allegation of abuse by her husband, Jeffrey Donaldson, a court has heard. 

The claim from one of the alleged victims came during week two of the former DUP leader’s trial. 63-year-old Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences. 

The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency. Donaldson’s wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending. 

The 60-year-old is facing a trial of the facts, not a criminal trial, after judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds. Allison Morris was in court for day four of evidence.  

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 Frank McCann murdered his wife, Esther, and her daughter, Jessica, on the 4th of September 1992.

The moment Marian Leonard heard the news that her sister and niece had perished in a house fire, she suspected that McCann had somehow been involved.

McCann received two life sentences in 1996.

In recent weeks, Marian has once again had to meet with the parole board to ask them not to release McCann.

Jenny Friel speaks to Marian Leonard to ask her why it's so important to her that McCann stays behind bars.

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Sandra visits home every Sunday evening to see her family, however, they know little about her day-to-day existence in Killala. 

They are shocked when she reveals her pregnancy in the late 90s but are also completely supportive.Sandra makes the difficult decision to give her baby daughter up for adoption. 

The Collins family are deeply saddened by the move but understand it. A short time later, they experience a huge tragedy when their brother James is killed in a horrific workplace accident. 

It takes a toll on all of them, and Sandra must deal with her grief without them close by. 

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It’s coming on two decades since a garda crackdown on Limerick promised to break the gangs that had turned the city into a warzone.

So, where are the players now and why are so many still involved in drug dealing and organised criminality?

Nicola speaks with Eamon Dillon.

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This episode was originally published by our sister podcast, The BelTel on May 29, 2026.

Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife planted a listening device in his car after becoming suspicious he was having affair with a constituent, a court in Newry has been told.  The 63-year-old former MP in on trial in relation to 18 alleged historical sex offence charges, dating from 1985 to 2008 – including a charge of rape. He denies all of the charges against him.  

His wife Eleanor Donaldson, of Dublinhill Road, Dromore in Co Down, is charged with aiding and abetting. She denies the charges.  She will not be in court and is facing a trial of the facts as she has been ruled medically unfit to stand trial.  

Allison Morris was in court.

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