• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.

Abroad

Veteran Member
Marion Millican, 51, was shot dead at the laundrette where she worked in March 2011.

Fred McClenaghan, 52, from Broad Street, Magherafelt, denies the murder, but pleaded guilty to her manslaughter.

[...]

When the charge was read to him, Mr McClenaghan replied: "Not guilty, but guilty of manslaughter."

This plea was rejected by the prosecution and Antrim Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, was told that the case would proceed as a murder trial.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29428211
 
Mr McClenaghan claims he accidentally shot her during a failed suicide attempt.

On Thursday, two police officers told the jury of how they had been sent to search for Mr McClenaghan's car following the shooting.

"We then received a message over the police radio that the car had been traced to a fold in Kilrea and we went there,'' a constable said.

The officer said that when they arrived the car was in the carpark and he was met by the manager of the fold.

[...]

A detective constable also told the jury that when Mr McClenaghan was taken out of the fold: "He was put in the police vehicle and I got in and sat beside him in the back seat. He said to me: 'It should be me lying there'.

"I asked him where the firearm was and he said it was somewhere between Ballymoney and Ballybogey. He said that if we drove him there he might recall where it was. He said he had thrown it into a ditch or a hedge.''

The detective said that after Mr McClenaghan's hands were put in cable ties and he was dressed in a forensic suit, he replied: "There is no need for this. I am saying it was me.''

The detective said he and his colleague then left to search for the gun and as they were driving between Ballymoney and Ballybogey, Mr McClenaghan identified the laneway where he dumped the long-barrelled shotgun.

He said they drove up the laneway and found the gun in bushes.

The jury heard that two weeks before the shooting, the defendant went to see a community psychiatric nurse and had also seen a counsellor about being sexually abused as a child.

"He said that he still had thoughts of self-harm and on that day (of the killing) he was going to shoot himself,'' the doctor told the jury.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29467333
 
From the day before:

The estranged husband of a woman shot dead in a laundrette has told a jury of the moment he cradled her in his arms to see if she was still alive.

Kenneth Millican was giving evidence at the trial of his wife's former lover, Fred McClenaghan 52, of Broad Street, Magherafelt.

Mr Millican, who also told Antrim Crown Court, sitting in Belfast of the couple's plans to patch up their marriage, said that he got a phone call around 1.30pm the day of the killing from Pamela Henry, who worked with her in the launderette.

He told the jury: "Pamela was very hysterical, crying and shouting. She said to me: 'Ken, Ken get down here. Freddie's got a gun and he's going to shoot Marion'."

"I said to her: 'Ring the police and I would be straight down".

Mr Millican said he followed closely behind a police car as it travelled at speed to the seaside town.

"I went into the launderette and saw Marion lying directly in front of me, half-way down. I thought she was unconscious and I tried to feel her pulse. There was no pulse," he said.

[...]

Earlier, he told a prosecution lawyer that after 35 years of marriage, they began to have problems, and that Marion eventually moved out of the family home in 2009 following an "amicable split".

In late 2009 he discovered she was in a relationship with Mr McClenaghan.

However, he said late the following year it had ended and they decided to "give our marriage another go".

Mr Millican said that while estranged from his wife, he had noticed a change in her. He also told the court he subsequently learned that Mr McClenaghan had beaten her, once knocking her unconscious.

On another occasion, he claimed Mr McClenaghan had attempted to strangle her, telling her: "You belong to me now and nobody else."
 
The trial of a man accused of murdering his former partner has heard details of a call he made to a counselling service three months before her death.

The court heard Mr McClenaghan rang the service of Christmas Eve 2010.

Lifeline counsellor Ann Sherrard told [...] that when Mr McClenaghan rang the service he told her he was angry due to a resurgence of memories of childhood sexual abuse that were causing him to lash out.

[...] Mrs Millican was refusing to have any contact with him after he hit her a week earlier.

Ms Sherrard said that after expressing thoughts of taking his own life and self-harm, Mr McClenaghan said: "My plan is to kill my girlfriend and then myself."

Under cross-examination, Ms Sherrard agreed that in her notes she had written the 52-year-old was eager to access help before things got worse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29478568
 
A man accused of murdering his former lover in a County Londonderry laundrette will not be giving evidence at his trial.

A defence barrister said: "It is not intended to call the accused to give evidence in this case".

He said his client was aware that the jury of six men and five women may draw whatever inferences they feel proper at his refusal to go into the witness box, or to answer any questions.

Earlier, before the close of the prosecution case, the court heard of Mr McClenaghan's confession to police to the unlawful killing.

It came during the 11th of 14 interviews, over three days during which he mostly remained silent, on the advice of his solicitor.

In a prepared statement, read into the record by a solicitor, Mr McClenaghan claimed he planned to commit suicide in front of Mrs Millican and that shooting her had been an accident.

"It was my intention to kill myself on March 11 and Marion would witness my suicide," the statement said.

"I did not intend to kill Marion. I did not intend to harm Marion. Marion's death was an accident. I am sorry".

The court heard that Mr McClenaghan maintained his silence, and did not elaborate on the statement from his solicitor. He also remained silent when asked about remarks he made after the shooting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29707347
 
A jury in the trial of a man who claimed he accidentally shot his ex-girlfriend while intending to kill himself is to retire on Wednesday.

[...]

On Tuesday, the trial judge said there were three crucial issues in the case.

Mr Justice Treacy told the Antrim Crown Court jury of six men and five women these issues were whether Mr McClenaghan deliberately fired the antique shotgun, or accidentally discharged the weapon, and if and when he did so, was he suffering from diminished responsibility.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-29905646
 
A 52-year-old County Londonderry man found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend has been jailed for 16 years.

It was the second time McClenaghan was convicted of murdering the mother-of-four in March 2011.
His original conviction was quashed on a technicality and a retrial ordered.

Mrs Millican's daughter, Suzanne Davis, said the family felt "very disappointed" at the sentence, as they left Belfast's Laganside courthouse.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30497452
 
QUOTE: Mrs Millican's daughter, Suzanne Davis, said the family felt "very disappointed" at the sentence, as they left Belfast's Laganside courthouse.

I would have too! 16 years is nothing for what he did. I wonder if one the family members flip out and kill him would they get 16 years too or would that be an unspeakable crime and they would get life without parole?
 
I wonder if one the family members flip out and kill him would they get 16 years too or would that be an unspeakable crime and they would get life without parole?

Depends upon the circumstances. If they fell on him at the courthouse immediately after the verdict was read and tore him apart with their bare hands, I think they would likely get a slap on the wrist.

If they plot the murder and lie in wait outside the prison in 8 years' time when he will likely be paroled, they are going down.......
[doublepost=1511196755,1418854448][/doublepost]This will more than likely merge with the almost three year old update above.....

A man who murdered his former partner at her County Londonderry workplace has been sentenced to 13 years.

Following today's sentencing, the family said they were "satisfied" with the sentence, and were glad the case was over.

McClenaghan made a U-turn admission to murder during his third trial.

He had previously only admitted manslaughter but was twice convicted and jailed for murder.

However, both of those convictions were overturned on appeal.

He added: "The history of the criminal proceedings in this case has been difficult and protracted.

"There can be no happy outcome but the defendant's belated plea is a welcome recognition of his wrongdoing and a relief for all concerned in this tragic case. The uncertainty that has haunted this case is now at an end."

Det Supt Jason Murphy said McClenaghan was "a very callous and dangerous man".

"Frederick McClenaghan inflicted further pain and suffering on the Millican family by subjecting them to a total of three trials after successfully appealing his unanimous murder conviction on two occasions," he said.

"He has never given the Millican family the courtesy of an explanation as to why he killed Marion."

McClenaghan is not eligible for remission on his 13-year sentence - which is the minimum he will serve before being considered for parole.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42053383
 
Back
Top