Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mum’s body ‘seen from boat’
Cop tells court of black object floating in lough
A WOMAN’S lifeless body could be seen floating in Lough Erne in clear view of her murder accused husband, a court was told yesterday.
Dungannon Crown Court has already heard Mrs Lu Na Mckinney, 35, was pulled from the water close to Devenish Island in Co Fermanagh in the early hours of April 13, 2017.
Her husband Stephen Mckinney, 43, orginially from Strabane, Co Tyrone, but living with her and their two children in Convoy, Co Donegal, denies her murder.
A police constable with 15 years experience in the RNLI, told the trial yesterday the Lady Grey drew close to the moored hire cruiser and he could clearly see “a black object” in the water.
He added the weather was good with calm waters and no rain.
The constable said he could see a male, which turned out to be Mckinney, on the phone, standing wrapped in a red blanket, but although shouting to him twice, asking “where has she gone in”, he believed he got no reply from him.
The officer said: “I saw a black object in the water close to the rear stern of the boat. I could tell it was a person. At that point the black object was very close to the stern of the boat.”
Asked if Mr Mckinney said anything at that stage, the officer said it was his belief he told him, “it’s her”.
The constable added his voice was “very quiet, it certainly wasn’t excitable”.
He said the brow of the Lady Grey was too high for a rescue attempt so after manoeuvering the launch around, he was able to get on the jetty and jump to the Mckinney cruiser.
The officer told the court he could clearly see what he took to be a body, but could not reach it by hand.
So using a boat hook from the police launch, he was able to grab on to the fur-lined hood of the object before being able to reach down and get hold of the
COURT YESTERDAY
body. He added, that with the help of an RNLI crewman they were able first to lift Mrs Mckinney on to the cruiser diving platform, and then on to the jetty.
The officer said he checked for vital signs, but found none and then began CPR.
He added Mrs Mckinney was taken by boat to the nearby Trory jetty where a waiting ambulance transfered her to hospital.
On his return to the cruiser, the officer told Mckinney his wife was being taken to hospital and suggested he go with her, but he refused several times, before agreeing to do so.
Under cross-examiation by defence QC Martin O’rourke, the constable accepted he could not be sure the “black object” was indeed a body in the water, until he had retrieved it.
He also said Mrs Mckinney had been floating in an upright position in the water. Later the driver of the police