Murder conviction being appealed after 'traumatic' case

A woman jailed for 12 years for murdering her partner has lodged an appeal against her conviction, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said.

Julie Ann McIlwaine, of Hazel Close, Lagmore, stabbed James Joseph Crossley, 38, while he slept at her former home in Filbert Drive in Dunmurry on 2 March 2022.

The 34-year-old had admitted to killing Mr Crossley but denied his murder.

Her sister, Rachel McIlwaine, told BBC News NI a "loss of control" defence should have been accepted in the case.

During the trial the court heard how Julie Anne McIlwaine and James Joseph Crossley were in a relationship marred by domestic abuse and coercive control.

In October 2024, jurors at Coleraine Crown Court rejected her argument and found her guilty after nine hours of deliberations.

Rachel McIlwaine said her sister acted in "an acute stress reaction" and "has to pay for what she did", but she believes a manslaughter conviction would have been more appropriate.

She said her sister accepted what she did and was "very remorseful", and the case had been "very traumatic for all the families involved".

"We have been put through an ordeal that we potentially shouldn't have been put through due to the levels of domestic abuse that were prevalent in this relationship," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

Rachel also said such a complex case should have been decided by a judge, and not a jury.

"To make these determinations as 12 individual people and come up with a unanimous decision is, I imagine, a very difficult thing. In my mind that legal test should not be a jury but a judge-led trial," she added.

A PPS spokeswoman responded: "The loss of control is a partial defence to murder, which, if accepted by a jury, would reduce the charge to manslaughter.

"This defence was raised by the defendant in this case. The jury, having heard all the facts and circumstances of the case, did not accept this defence and convicted the defendant of murder."

The PPS spokeswoman said it had "a duty to put before the court those cases that meet the test for prosecution".

"This means that there is sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute," she added.

The PPS also responded to criticism of the jury trial.

"The Director of Public Prosecutions can certify a non-jury trial in certain exceptional cases as set out in legislation. This case did not meet any of the legislative criteria for a non-jury trial," the PPS spokeswoman said.

"The defendant has lodged an appeal against conviction, and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."

The judge, Mr Justice Kinney, described the murder of Mr Crossley as "brutal and savage''.

He told the defendant that after serving the minimum of 12 years in custody, it would be up to parole commissioners to decide whether it was safe to release her back into the community.

At the time of his death, James Crossley was on bail for an assault against McIlwaine and was subject to a restraining order prohibiting him from being in contact with her.

The defence said McIlwaine was suffering from a temporary "stress reaction" brought on by the trauma of her abusive relationship.

The prosecution told the court that the defendant's "rational choices" on the night of the stabbing proved that she was in control of what she was doing.

Following Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Det Insp Michelle Griffin of the PSNI said it has been an "extremely difficult case" involving two people who had been in a "mutually abusive relationship".

She said that it had left "so many family members, including children, totally heartbroken".

Rachel McIlwaine said she had a lot of "empathy" and "sadness" for Mr Crossley's family.

"I have my own brother, and my parents have their own son, and I can't imagine what that loss is like to a family," she said.