Court reserves judgment on retrial of woman who killed abusive partner

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment on a bid by prosecutors for the retrial of a woman who stabbed her abusive partner to death.

Julie Ann McIlwaine was convicted in 2025 of murdering James Joseph Crossley but had that conviction overturned on appeal last month.

She had admitted killing her partner, claiming to have suffered a temporary loss of control as a victim of domestic abuse.

Prosecutors have been seeking a retrial in the case - requesting that it be re-run on the charge of murder.

Eilis McDermott KC, representing McIlwaine, argued for substituting the verdict of murder with a verdict of manslaughter over the fatal stabbing.

Judges heard legal arguments from both sides today, including calls from McIlwaine's barrister that in the event of a retrial, she be released on bail.

The barrister described McIlwaine, a mother-of-four as "a person who before this conviction had no crime", and who had been "a model prisoner" for the last two years she has spent in custody.

The Crown argued that no bail should be granted.

McIlwaine, who has been serving a minimum 12-year jail term, remains in custody in Hydebank Wood - from where she appeared before the court via video link.

Reserving judgment today, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan told the court these were "important matters in a significant case" and that judges would return a decision at a later date.

Crossley, 38, was stabbed up to 10 times in the chest and abdomen as he slept at McIlwaine's home in Dunmurry in March 2022.

McIlwaine's case was that she had been a victim of serious domestic abuse.

When she was sentenced last year, the judge said the court had been satisfied that she endured prolonged coercive control and abusive behaviours by Crossley, and that such conduct could "drive people to actions which they would not otherwise countenance".

At the time of his death Crossley was on bail for an alleged assault against McIlwaine and subject to a restraining order prohibiting any contact with her.

Despite a period of separation, they had re-established their relationship by the night of the killing.

In October 2024, McIlwaine was found guilty of murder.

But last month she won a legal bid to overturn that conviction with her lawyers having successfully argued that jurors had been misdirected and reached a verdict which went against the weight of expert evidence.