Sarah Montgomery's murder was a 'coldblooded and sustained' attack

A man beat the mother of his two children to death using a water bottle that had been given to him as a Father's Day present, a court in Belfast has heard.

Sarah Montgomery, 27, was 32 weeks pregnant when she was murdered by Zak Hughes in June 2025.

She had two other children, both girls, aged five and seven.

Hughes, 29, from Ardglen Place in Ardoyne, Belfast pleaded guilty to her murder and to a charge of child destruction in June 2026.

Warning: This article contains graphic details that some readers may find distressing.

During Friday's sentencing hearing, the court heard details of how Sarah Montgomery was found dead in her Donaghadee home by her grandfather the day after she was killed.

Sarah was found face down halfway between the hall and the living room.

A yard brush staff and the broken head of the brush were found nearby.

During the prosecution's evidence, the court heard that CPR was attempted but that it "was to no avail".

"Sarah was cold and stiff".

A lawyer for the Crown said there were blood stains throughout the flat and that a damaged door had shown that there were obvious signs of a struggle.

A post-mortem examination showed that Sarah was subjected to blunt force trauma at least 59 times.

Many of her injuries had been targeted at her head.

Her baby was described as a "well grown and normally developed male baby".

The relationship between Sarah Montgomery and Zak Hughes was explained during the proceedings.

They had had an on-off relationship since they were in their early teens.

Their relationship initially began to falter after Sarah found out she was pregnant with their first child.

However, they continued to be involved with each other. Hughes later denied he was the father of their second child, but DNA testing proved that he was, the court heard.

The couple had been living apart but routinely Hughes would take their children for the weekend.

In the weeks leading up to Sarah's murder, she became aware through social media that Hughes' fiancée was also pregnant.

Sarah messaged Hughes' mother who confirmed that his other partner was also pregnant, the court heard.

Sarah took screenshots of her conversation and sent them to him.

Later that day he came to her home to collect one of his daughters for the weekend.

Hughes called to the house at around 13:30 BST.

Their daughter left the flat and went to wait in Hughes' jeep.

What happened next was recorded in audio on Sarah's phone.

Sarah confronted him about the pregnancy - and was heard to ask: "How did you think you were going to get away with it?"

At the end of the recording, the court was told that Sarah could be heard saying "Jesus" and screaming the word "Zak" several times.

The last 24 seconds of the recording is of Sarah screaming.

Hughes left the flat and went back out to the car where his daughter had been waiting. He then drove to pick his other daughter up from school.

One member of staff described him as looking "sweaty, dishevelled and his face was very agitated".

Later, Hughes went to Primark and bought new clothes which he changed into before disposing of the stained clothes.

He then set about getting rid of other evidence. He dumped Sarah's phone first and then another bag of items taken from the house.

Hughes dumped the blood-stained dented water bottle and a wooden brush shaft which police believe were the murder weapons.

Later that night, he sent a photo of himself with the girls sitting on his knee to Sarah's phone.

The prosecution lawyer said he would have known that Sarah was either dead or dying.

The next day, Hughes, along with his two daughters, attended a baby shower for his pregnant fiancée.

That was the day Sarah's body was discovered by her grandfather.

That evening, the police arrested Hughes at his mother's house.

The prosecution described Hughes' attack as "cold blooded, sustained and murderous".

It said his attack on the pregnant mother of his three children had lasted for 19 minutes - and went on to say it was one of the worst cases of domestic violence in recent times.

A defence barrister told the court that nothing he said "could take away from the fact this is a horrific case" which caused a "high level of harm".

He pointed out a lack of planning and pre-meditation compared to other cases, including the death of pregnant Lurgan woman Natalie McNally.

The judge did not hand down a tariff but said she would look at all the evidence and scheduled a review for next week.