A former partner of Natalie McNally admitted during cross-examination at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday that he told police "little white lies" in his initial statement after her killing and wiped his phone before speaking to detectives. The witness, who cannot be named due to a court order, spent a second day giving evidence in the murder trial of Stephen McCullagh.

McCullagh, 36, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, has denied murdering Ms McNally. She was 32 and 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed at her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan on 18 December 2022. McCullagh has previously told police that Ms McNally's former partner was responsible, a claim the witness described as "ridiculous" when it was put to him on Monday.

The witness told the jury of six men and six women that he learned of Ms McNally's death on the morning of 20 December while at work. He said his then partner messaged him to say detectives were at their home in connection with Ms McNally, and shortly afterwards a neighbour of Ms McNally's contacted him via Snapchat to tell him she had been killed.

He told the court that on his way home, he pulled over and performed a factory reset on his mobile phone. He said the reset had nothing to do with Ms McNally and was instead prompted by concern that detectives would find drug-related messages on his device. He said there were two detectives in his flat and he had cannabis in a cupboard, and he feared they would want to examine his phone. He acknowledged in hindsight that the reset was unnecessary and that he should not have done it.

Mr Justice Patrick Kinney warned the witness several times about the risk of self-incrimination. The witness said he did not care if he got himself into further trouble, stating he was there to tell the truth.

Defence barrister John Kearney KC challenged the witness over inconsistencies in his original police statement, given two days before he was arrested on 22 December 2022. The witness had told police he had not seen Ms McNally since May 2022, but later accepted the last meeting was during autumn rugby internationals in late October or early November. He had also told police he sent only two or three text messages to Ms McNally on the Sunday of her death, but accepted under questioning that there had been significantly more contact, including an ongoing sexual relationship and arguments.

Mr Kearney put it to the witness that he had been "lying and lying and lying again" and had deliberately omitted anything that could cause him problems, including his WhatsApp contact with Ms McNally. The witness rejected that characterisation, saying his statement was "not full of lies" but conceding there had been "a little bit of lying about the contact" he had with her. He said he corrected the inaccuracies when he was arrested two days later.

The witness also conceded that some of his messages to Ms McNally were unpleasant and that he had taken advantage of her. He told the court he had a drinking problem and was nearly eight weeks sober. On Monday, the court had heard that the witness was watching the World Cup final with his then partner on the night Ms McNally was killed, and that his partner had video showing him asleep on the sofa that evening.

The trial, which is expected to last approximately five weeks, continues before Mr Justice Kinney. Ms McNally's family have been present in the public gallery throughout proceedings.