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 Sarah Mongomery intended to name the baby Liam Arthur.

Lady Justice 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 described the crime as a "wick, heinous" act.

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

A sentence hearing heard that Ms Montgomery was subjected to blunt force trauma at least 59 times.

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 Ms Montgomery'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.

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 fiancé, who was also pregnant, and collected his children every Friday to mind them for the weekend.

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 hearing in June, Madam Justice McBride, indicated that, in light of the pleas, the only sentence she could impose was that of a life sentence.

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".