Woman who killed abusive partner has murder conviction overturned
Summary
Julie Ann McIlwaine, a woman from west Belfast who killed her abusive partner James Joseph Crossley while he slept, has had her murder conviction overturned. The Court of Appeal said the jury was wrongly instructed on the law about her temporary loss of control due to abuse, so her guilty verdict was quashed.Key Facts
- Julie Ann McIlwaine stabbed James Joseph Crossley multiple times while he was sleeping next to their child in March 2022.
- McIlwaine admitted to killing Crossley but denied it was murder, claiming she temporarily lost control because of his abuse.
- Crossley was abusive, emotionally controlling, and was on bail with a restraining order for assaulting McIlwaine before his death.
- In 2024, a jury found McIlwaine guilty of murder and sentenced her to at least 12 years in prison.
- On appeal, judges said jurors were wrongly told to apply a stricter legal test when deciding if McIlwaine's loss of control defence was valid.
- Expert psychiatrists testified that abuse victims may react with loss of self-control, supporting McIlwaine's defence.
- The Court of Appeal quashed the murder conviction and gave prosecutors two weeks to decide whether to seek a retrial.
- McIlwaine was emotional when the decision was announced via video link from prison.
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