A woman from west Belfast who stabbed her abusive partner to death while he slept has had her murder conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal. The court ruled that jurors were given incorrect legal guidance regarding Julie Ann McIlwaine’s loss of control defense in the killing of James Joseph Crossley in March 2022.
Senior judges quashed the guilty verdict and granted the prosecution a two-week window to determine whether to pursue a retrial. Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stated, “We cannot be satisfied that the conviction is safe.”
McIlwaine, 35, who has been serving a minimum 12-year prison sentence, broke down in tears as the ruling was delivered via video link from Hydebank Prison. While she admitted to the killing, she denied murder, arguing that she suffered a temporary loss of control due to prolonged domestic abuse.
Crossley, 38, died after being stabbed up to 10 times in the chest and abdomen while sleeping beside the couple’s young child at McIlwaine’s former home in Dunmurry. The court heard that their relationship had been characterized by emotional manipulation and coercive control. At the time of his death, Crossley was on bail for an alleged assault against McIlwaine and was subject to a restraining order prohibiting contact with her.
Although the pair had separated at one point, they had resumed living together by the night of the incident. Evidence indicated that Crossley had taken medication and gone to sleep following arguments in which he issued an ultimatum for McIlwaine to choose between him and her family.
During police interviews, McIlwaine revealed she had considered suicide. She described retrieving a knife from the kitchen, returning to the bedroom, moving the child, and repeatedly stabbing her sleeping partner. Prosecutors argued that these actions demonstrated rational decision-making and that she remained in control of her behavior.
In October 2024, a jury unanimously rejected McIlwaine’s defense and convicted her of murder. However, her legal team successfully appealed, arguing that the trial judge misdirected jurors on the legal test for loss of control.
The central issue concerned the wording used to assess whether a person with similar characteristics to McIlwaine might have reacted in the same way. Instead of using the term “might,” the judge had posed the question using “would,” effectively imposing a higher threshold for probability. Dame Siobhan, sitting with Lord Justice Colton, agreed with the defense that this wording was legally flawed.
Two consultant forensic psychiatrists had concluded that a properly directed jury could have found that McIlwaine met the criteria for loss of self-control, highlighting the psychological impact of prolonged abuse in coercively controlling relationships. Dame Siobhan noted that the misdirection was highly material given the uncontradicted expert evidence.
“The appeal succeeds… and the conviction for murder will accordingly be quashed,” the Lady Chief Justice said. She adjourned the case until 16 October, instructing prosecution counsel to return to court to outline their next steps.
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