The BelTel

The man accused of murdering Natalie McNally “lied and lied again”, a barrister has told Belfast Crown Court.  

Delivering his closing statement in the case, prosecuting barrister Charles MacCreanor KC reminded the jury that the accused Stephen McCullagh had chosen not to give evidence to his trial. 

However, defence barrister John Kearney KC said the case against Stephen McCullagh is “dependent upon circumstantial evidence”. 

There are “troubling” aspects of the prosecution case against the man accused of murdering Natalie McNally that point “towards some other killer”, he said. 

36-year-old McCullagh denies killing Natalie McNally (32), who was found dead at her home in Lurgan on December 18, 2022. 

The Belfast Telegraph’s Crime Correspondent Allison Morris is covering the case.

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A witness says the unusual behaviour exhibited by Noah Donohoe prior to his disappearance could be associated with synthetic cannabinoids or a mental health condition.  

The jury at the inquest into the teenager’s death heard evidence from the toxicologists on Wednesday. 

Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast on 27 June2020 - six days after the St Malachy’s College student went missing. 

The inquest is now in its eighth week of hearing evidence. Liam Tunney has been covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph.

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This time last year, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin was grasping an American-flag emblazoned short straw, playing second fiddle to Conor McGregor as our disgraced UFC representative took the St Patrick’s Day podium.

Now that the Taoiseach has been restored to March 17 parity, he has one hell of a job on his hands. What kind of reception awaits him in Donald Trump’s Oval Office next week?  

Host: Kevin Doyle 

Guest: Mary Regan 

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Serial killer Robert Black is now the subject of Netflix documentary 'Manhunt: The Child Snatcher'. Black was a monster, an abuser and murder of little girls - he was the child snatcher that all parents feared.

His first murder victim we can be certain of was nine-year-old Co Antrim child Jennifer Cardy on 12 August 1981.

He was convicted of killing four young girls but is suspected of abusing and murdering many, many more.

Black died in Maghaberry Prison near Belfast in January 2016. His body was cremated, and his ashes thrown into the sea.

Professor Craig Jackson is Professor of Occupational Health Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. He tells Ciarán Dunbar what makes a serial killer and why we are so interested in them.

This podcast was originally released in January 2023.

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Elon Musk has built an encyclopedia which contains countless errors about Northern Ireland and its history. 

Grokipedia, which was launched in October last year, now has more than six million AI generated articles, but many articles related to Northern Ireland contain major mistakes or are highly misleading. 

The AI encyclopedia says that Ian Paisleys paramilitary Third Force was operating under Crown authority, it says murder victims the Reavey brothers were linked to the IRA, and that the Bloody Sunday massacre was instigated by the IRA, among many other errors.  

Sam McBride joined Olivia Peden. 

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An ex-partner of Natalie McNally has told a court that he did not kill the Co Armagh woman.  

Ms McNally, 32, was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed at her home in Lurgan on December 18 2022. 

On his third and final day of evidence, the witness shouted “you killed her” in an angry courtroom outburst at Stephen McCullagh, who stands accused of her murder.  

Her partner, Stephen McCullagh, 36, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, denies the murder charge.  

Allison Morris is covering the case for the Belfast Telegraph. 

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A former partner of Natalie McNally was arrested last week on suspicion of making threats to kill a woman he had been seeing at the time of Ms McNally’s death, court has heard. The anonymous ex-boyfriend of Ms McNally told the court he reset his phone to factory settings after learning detectives were at his home in connection with the murder investigation, claiming he did so because he had cannabis in his home. Yesterday while giving evidence after he looked at murder accused Stephen McCullagh and shouted “you killed her”. 

Allison Morris was in court. 

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In the early hours of December 3, 1995, a small aircraft vanished over the Mediterranean. On board was Belfast-born engineer Desi Boomer, travelling home from Libya’s oil fields to Northern Ireland via Malta. Instead of welcoming him home, Desi’s wife Mandy received a visit from two RUC officers telling her the plane had disappeared. 

Initially treated as a routine aviation accident, the case of Piper Lance 9H-ABU has since become a long-running mystery, with allegations of negligence, espionage, and claims of hostage taking. 

Abdullah Sabri speaks to Desi’s brother Mark about dealing with his unexplained loss, unanswered questions, and what he thinks could have happened. 

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The trial of Stephen McCullagh for the murder of Natalie McNally is continuing at Belfast Crown Court. In court today, a former partner of the murder accused gave evidence. The woman alleged that McCullagh had ‘recorded’ counselling sessions after she had suffered a stillbirth. She also said she withdrew a 2019 police statement relating to an alleged assault by McCullagh.  

Natalie McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed at her home on December 18, 2022. Mr McCullagh denies any involvement with the murder. 

Olivia Peden is joined by Allison Morris. 

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