Woman stabbed partner as he slept in ‘premeditated’ murder, court told

By Jonathan McCambridge (PA)

A woman who stabbed her partner multiple times with a kitchen knife while he slept carried out a “premeditated” murder, a court was told.

But a defence barrister said mother-of four Julie Ann McIlwaine had been in an abusive relationship and had endured a “significant level of domestic abuse and coercive control over a protracted period”.

McIlwaine 34, from Hazel Close, Lagmore, in west Belfast, was found guilty by a jury in October of the murder of James Joseph Crossley, 38, at her former home in March 2022.

During a sentencing hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Kinney heard submissions ahead of setting a tariff for how long she would spend in prison.

Prosecuting barrister Richard Weir KC told the court there had been an argument between McIlwaine and her partner on the day of his death.

He said: “We say the defendant chose to kill James Crossley rather than to follow any other options before her. She killed him when he was asleep.

“She went from the top bedroom to the kitchen, she selected what appears to have been the largest knife and returned to the bedroom and stabbed him multiple times with the intention of killing him.”

The barrister said it was not a borderline case between murder and manslaughter.

He added: “It was premeditated, planned and the intention was to kill and nothing else.”

Defence barrister Eilis McDermott KC told the court that McIlwaine had a high degree of regret for her actions.

She said: “The reality is that the defendant was the victim of a significant level of domestic violence and coercive control over a protracted period.”

The barrister told the court the case came “close to the borderline” between murder and manslaughter.

Ms McDermott said McIlwaine had been trapped in an “abusive relationship” and had lost control.

She said: “This offence is characterised by little or no planning.

“All of the evidence looked at fairly suggests this was an impulsive reaction to circumstances where the defendant became overwhelmed and lost control.

“The choice that appeared to her to be the only choice she could make was between suicide and homicide.”

Ms McDermott added: “The defendant killed her partner as the result of a long and undisputed history of violence and coercive control which included two incidents of non-fatal strangulation.”

The barrister said psychiatric reports had stated McIlwaine had been “psychologically enmeshed” with Mr Crossley and unable to separate.

Mr Justice Kinney said he would set the tariff for how long McIlwaine would spend in prison in the near future.

Julie Ann McIlwaine leaving Coleraine Courthouse in October (MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN PHOTOGRAPHY )