06/06/2012

Murder Was Thwarted Suicide Bid, Court Hears

A man killed his former lover in a suicide bid gone wrong, a court heard.

Fred McClenaghan, 49, of Broad Street, Magherafelt, is on trial charged with murdering Marion Millican with a shotgun as she ate her lunch in a launderette in Portstewart on March 11 2011.

He denies murder, and in a prepared statement which was read out in court he said he planned to kill himself and for her to witness it.

The statement added: "I didn't intend to harm Marion... Marion's death was an accident and I am truly sorry."

But prosecution lawyers at Antrim Crown Court said her death was "murder pure and simple" and that forensic tests "give lie to the claim that her death was an accident".

A lawyer said that Mrs Millican had been warned by police of the threat to her life, as she was planning to end her violent relationship with Mr McClenaghan and go back to her husband Kenny.

He said the accused had told counsellors of his own suicidal feelings in the months before the shooting, but had framed it in terms of wanting to kill his girlfriend and then himself.

Trial Judge Corinne Philpott QC heard that Mr McClenaghan was angry after being rejected and had armed himself and shot Mrs Millican deliberately.

The trial continues.

(NE)

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