Man jailed for 20 years over murder of pregnant mother

A man who murdered the pregnant mother of his two children has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years for what the judge described as a "brutal attack on a completely defenceless, heavily pregnant mother"

Sarah Montgomery was 32 weeks pregnant when she was murdered by the baby's father, Zak Hughes, in her home in Co Down in June 2025.

Hughes, from Ardglen Place in Ardoyne, Belfast, pleaded guilty to her murder and to a charge of child destruction in relation to her unborn baby, whom Ms Mongomery intended to name the baby Liam Arthur.

Ms Justice Denise McBride previously imposed a life sentence and today ordered that he serve a tariff of 20 years before he is considered for parole.

She sentenced him to 20 years for each charge to run concurrently describing the crime as a "wicked, heinous" act not just against Ms Montgomery, but also her unborn child.

The judge said this was "another femicide in a long line of femicides in this jurisdiction", saying Ms Montgomery was not just a statistic and everyone who knew her spoke lovingly about her.

Hughes struck her at least 59 times in an attack that lasted almost 20 minutes in her home, a place the judge said she should have felt safe.

Ms Justice McBride said it was "a brutal, savage and sustained attack" after she confronted him about lying about his fiancé losing their baby.

Hughes and Ms Montgomery had been in an "on off" relationship since their early teens and had two daughters together.

Hughes, who was engaged to another woman who was also pregnant, had called to collect his five-year-old daughter, who he told to wait in his car.

One of the weapons Hughes used in the attack was a water bottle which Ms Montgomery had bought him as a Father's Day present from their two children.

The mother of two had recorded the attack on her mobile phone on which she could be heard screaming as he suddenly launched the assault.

He then took her mobile phone, locked the door and left to pick up their other child from a local primary school and went to Belfast.

Later that evening he sent a photo of the two girls with him to Sarah’s phone and the following day they attended his fiancé’s baby shower.

Ms Montgomery’s body was found covered in blood in her Donaghadee home by her grandfather the day after she was killed.

In a victim impact statement to the court her grandfather said he is still haunted.

The court heard there were blood stains throughout the flat and that a damaged door had shown that there were obvious signs of a struggle.

Hughes, a personal trainer at a gym in Belfast, and Ms Montgomery, a trained beautician, first met when they both attended Glastry College school, and started a relationship.

This was described as having "faltered" and was "on and off" following the birth of their first child.

Hughes denied being the father of their second child but was proven to be the father by a DNA test.

At the time of the murder Hughes was living with his pregnant fiancée and collected his children every Friday to mind them for the weekend.

'Cold blooded, systematic, murderous attack'

On Friday 27 June 2025, Hughes arrived at Ms Montgomery's flat to pick up one of their children for his usual weekend with them.

The child was seen on CCTV walking to the car, and sitting waiting for their father.

The court heard Hughes had lied to Ms Montgomery about his fiancée losing their baby in a car accident, but she had discovered this was not the case and texted him that she knew, to which he replied they would talk in person.

Inside the flat, Hughes struck Ms Montgomery in what the prosecution described as a "cold blooded, systematic, murderous attack" which lasted 19 minutes.

He then locked the door when he left and went to collect his other child from school where staff described him as appearing flustered.

He made several stops on his way to Belfast, including stopping at Primark in Newtownards, he bought a new outfit and changed, dumped Ms Montgomery's phone and keys in one location and his bloodied clothes and water bottle at another location.

The court heard that both of Ms Montgomery's parents had died, and she was close with her grandfather and great aunt who played a significant role in the lives of her and her children, while she also supported her brothers and had a close circle of friends.

During a sentencing hearing comparisons were drawn with Stephen McCullagh's murder of his pregnant partner Natalie McNally in her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh in 2022, and the judge noted "femicide is a real issue in this jurisdiction".

The prosecution said it "must be viewed as one of the worst cases of domestic violence in recent times".

Today, Ms Justice McBride took into account his guilty plea and remorse as mitigating factors but said the main aggravating factor was the death of the unborn baby who had been denied a chance at life.

She said when Sarah "screamed out for mercy, you continued to strike her at least 59 times until you killed her and her unborn baby"

She said there was rightly public outrage and the crime "rightly invoked the abhorrence of right-thinking people".