// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Woman who killed abusive partner has murder conviction overturned
Julie Ann McIlwaine admitted killing James Joseph Crossley but denied his murder
A west Belfast woman who stabbed her abusive partner to death while he slept has had her conviction for murder overturned.
The Court of Appeal ruled that jurors were misdirected on Julie Ann McIlwaine's loss of control defence to the killing of James Joseph Crossley in March 2022.
Senior judges quashed the guilty verdict and gave the prosecution two weeks to decide if it is to seek any retrial.
"We cannot be satisfied that the conviction is safe," said Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan.
McIlwaine, 35, who has been serving a minimum 12-year jail term, wept on the videolink from Hydebank Prison as the ruling was delivered.
She admitted killing her partner but denied murder, claiming to have suffered a temporary loss of control as a victim of domestic abuse.
Crossley, 38, was stabbed up to 10 times in the chest and abdomen as he lay sleeping beside the couple's young child at McIlwaine's former home in Dunmurry.
The pair had been in a relationship marred by emotional manipulation and coercive control.
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.