A MOTHER of two allegedly murdered by her controlling husband at Lough Erne because he couldn't face the prospect of her divorcing him had consulted a family law solicitor about a separation, a court heard on Wednesday

The Donegal-based solicitor seen by 35-year-old Lu Na McKinney told Dungannon Crown Court she'd noted after the consultation: "The marriage is over for Lu Na and she is very unhappy."

Her 44-year-old husband, Stephen McKinney, is accused of murdering her during a family boating holiday to Fermanagh four years ago in April, 2017.

Originally from Strabane, but now with an address in Castletown Square, Fintona, McKinney denies murdering his wife.

The jury of eight men and four women learned that Mrs. McKinney first approached the solicitor at a centre specialising in family law matters such as separation, custody and divorces, in September, 2016, with a follow-up consultation that November.

Initially, she provided the solicitor with a typed letter indicating she "didn't know how or where to start".

The letter, along with her personal file detailing the history of the McKinney marriage beginning in May, 2003, and several moves to and from China to Ireland over the years, were later requisitioned by Court Order following Mrs. McKinney's death.

When living in China, McKinney moved out of their apartment for a time and would allegedly text his wife, saying things like he had met a girl and how beautiful she was, and also make derogatory remarks about her and their sex life and "and tried absolutely everything to hurt" her, the court heard.

The court also heard Mrs. McKinney told the solicitor the marriage wasn't perfect and they argued sometimes, but this was different. The solicitor further told the court what Mrs. McKinney had told her: "He blamed me for starting all the arguments and the things he was doing was because I made him.

"He asked me to watch him having sex with someone. I thought he was just trying to hurt me, and I didn't believe it.

"After talking to him on Skype, I realised he wasn't kidding. I saw him with that girl."

The solicitor said Mrs. McKinney explained as they'd married in Ireland, she couldn't divorce him in China. The family finally moved back to Donegal in June, 2016, for their children's education, by which time Mrs McKinney had decided to file for separation.

The solicitor further claimed Mrs. McKinney complained her husband, "drank quite a lot and gambled online", and allegedly "tried to hurt and humiliate her" and referred to her as being "like a vegetable".

Mrs. McKinney told the solicitor she worked part-time in a friend's take-away, and to do so had to hand over £80 out of her wage to her husband for looking after their children.

At the time he was allegedly in receipt of just over £300 a week in Job Seeker's Allowance

The trial continues.