STEPHEN McKINNEY the man accused of murdering his wife on a boating holiday on Lough Erne as their two children slept, blames himself for her drowning his trial heard today (Wednesday).

Dungannon Crown Court heard that Mr. McKinney told police while he "tried his best" to save his 35-year-old wife Lu Na, as a "man" he should have, and that she'd not been wearing a life jacket.

Mr. McKinney, originally from Strabane, who lived with his family in Convoy, Co Donegal, but now with an address in Castletown Square, Fintona, Tyrone, denies murdering his wife whose lifeless body was pulled from the lough in the early hours of April 13, 2017.

The jury of eight men and four women also learned today (Wednesday) that the McKinney family had gone on the Easter cruising holiday to celebrate their up and coming 14th wedding anniversary the following month.

One officer who accompanied Mr. McKinney and his children to the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen, said he was "concerned and asking about his wife, asking about her general condition. And seemed upset".

"I think I said, she's in the best place, that medical staff were seeing to her," the constable told the court.

A short time later he claimed Mr. McKinney told him: "I tried my best to save her. She can't swim. I heard a splash and I heard 'help' and I jumped in.

"I had hold of her trying to pull her up .. I had a hold of her and the boat and she kept pulling me down.

"I kept trying to hold her up ... I had hold of her, but she kept pulling me down... I tried my best...I'm not a good swimmer, that's why my children are learning to swim."

In a follow-up conversation in the smoking area outside the A&E department after learning of his wife's death, the constable recorded Mr McKinney telling him: "I'm supposed to be a man and be there ..... I don't want to go in there and speak to the children, but I have to be a man.

"I jumped in and had hold of the boat and I did my best to save her .... I just tried to grab her, just to grab, save her ... if only she was wearing a life jacket .... there's only two on the boat and they were in with the children in case the boat sank ..... they were supposed to throw two more over and they didn't.

"The boat was tied. If only she was wearing a life jacket .... I should have saved her."

A second officer said he was with Mr. McKinney when a doctor informed him despite doing everything possible to resuscitate his wife she had died.

On hearing the news Mr. McKinney replied: "I knew it. How am I going to tell my children?"

The officer said he was then told how the family had spent "a quiet evening on the boat playing Monopoly and had a few beers", but that Lu Na complained the "boat was moving. I said it wasn't but she's very fussy and she argued with me.

"Then she went out to check the ropes. I heard a shout help .. I went out to help. How am I going to tell the children?"

A female officer who'd accompanied the family to the hospital described the scene agreeing Mr. McKinney "tried to comfort his children". She said he was "shaking, but not uncontrollably ... his voice shaking though".

In cross-examination by Mr. O'Rourke QC for the defence, she said Mr. McKinney "was very jittery, shaking, talking at speed" and that he had "kept on asking about his wife".

Asked what she meant by " jittery", she explained that "his words were quick .. his words were all over the place". She said it was hard to described but Mr. McKinney was"possibly not listening to what I was saying back to him.

"He wanted answers that I didn't have," added the constable.

At hearing.