Zak Hughes pleads guilty to murder of pregnant Sarah Montgomery in Donaghadee

Zak Hughes, 29, has pleaded guilty to murdering mother-of-two Sarah Montgomery, who was heavily pregnant at the time. A life sentence was confirmed by the judge.

Guilty plea entered in murder of pregnant Donaghadee mother

Zak Hughes, 29, of Ardglen Place in Ardoyne pleaded guilty on Friday to the murder of Sarah Montgomery in Donaghadee, bbc.co.uk reports. He also entered a guilty plea to a charge of child destruction.

Montgomery, 27, was a mother of two and was heavily pregnant with her third child when she was killed inside her home on 27 June 2025. She had planned to name her unborn son Liam Arthur.

Standing in the dock, Hughes confirmed his name before the charges were read to him. Madam Justice McBride told the court that, given the pleas entered, the only sentence available to her was a life sentence. A tariff hearing has been scheduled for 11 September 2026.

The PSNI received a report at approximately 14:15 BST on 28 June 2025 that a woman was unconscious at a property in the Elmfield Walk area of the town. Montgomery had sustained a serious injury and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

In the days following her death, hundreds of people gathered at a vigil in Donaghadee to mourn Montgomery and her unborn child. Friends who spoke at the vigil described her as a "vibrant individual" who "lived for her two girls, who were so excited to have a baby brother join their little family." They also noted that she had cared for her two autistic brothers and elderly grandparents.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)