Belfast Crown Court heard testimony on Friday from a former girlfriend of Stephen McCullagh, the man accused of murdering pregnant Lurgan woman Natalie McNally. The witness, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions, told the jury that McCullagh struck her during an early-morning car journey in December 2019 after she attempted to jump from the moving vehicle.

McCullagh, 36, of Woodland Gardens, Lisburn, denies murdering McNally, 32, who was found dead at her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan on 18 December 2022. She was 15 weeks pregnant. McCullagh was the father of her unborn child.

The witness said she met McCullagh at the end of 2015 and had an on-and-off relationship with him over roughly seven years. She told the court that on 30 December 2019, the pair were at his home attempting to reconcile after a separation. While fixing her phone, which had been running slowly, McCullagh discovered images and messages she had sent to another man. She said he became upset, began crying and shouting, and grew angry.

The woman described McCullagh pushing her into a bathtub during an argument. Defence barrister John Kearney KC told the court that McCullagh had no recollection of any physical altercation in the bathroom.

The argument continued past midnight. McCullagh then drove the woman toward her family home. During the journey, she said she attempted to exit the moving car while it was travelling at approximately 45 to 50 miles per hour. She told the court that McCullagh pulled her back inside, slapped her across the face and punched her on the temple. She said he also threatened to share images from her phone with her family, friends and workplace, and to burn sentimental belongings she had left at his home.

The defence accepted that McCullagh slapped the woman but denied he punched her. Kearney told the court that McCullagh intervened to prevent the woman from harming herself and disputed the language she attributed to the defendant.

The woman made a complaint to police on 31 December 2019 but withdrew her statement within two days. She told the court she did not want McCullagh to go to prison and at the time believed his actions were an attempt to make her see sense, as he had told her.

The couple resumed contact in 2021. In January 2022, the woman suffered a stillbirth. She subsequently received counselling, with some sessions held in the living room of McCullagh's home, where she was then living. Police later informed her that recordings of those sessions had been found on McCullagh's computer. She said she did not know the sessions were being recorded and had not consented. The defence said McCullagh had offered to tape sessions to help her recall what was discussed, which the witness denied.

Also on Friday, a Fonacab taxi driver gave evidence about a fare he collected outside Fa Joe's bar in Lurgan at 10.46pm on the night of McNally's death. He described the passenger as a large person who was alone, carried a bag, and asked to be taken to Lisburn via the Moira road. The driver said the passenger was dropped off at 11.13pm and paid in cash. A Fonacab IT manager confirmed through GPS data that the vehicle's destination was Woodland Gardens in Lisburn. Under cross-examination, the driver said he could not be certain the drop-off time was precisely 11.13pm.

The trial, before Mr Justice Kinney and a jury of six men and six women, is expected to last five weeks. McCullagh denies murder.