A man has been told he must spend at least 17 years in prison for murdering his partner, leaving her children to find her body.
Caoimhe Morgan was beaten to death by Taylor George McIlvenna in December 2021.
The 30-year-old suffered a sustained and prolonged assault.
The court heard that several of her children were in the house when she was killed. Her mother discovered her battered body the following day.
McIlvenna, 32, from Highvale Gardens in Belfast, had already been given a life sentence for the killing after a guilty plea.
Today’s hearing was to set the minimum term he must serve before he can be considered for release.
Ms Morgan was last seen alive by her mother on 17 December 2021 when she took a call from McIlvenna.
She told her mother she was going home to put up her Christmas decorations. Her mother walked her part of the way back to her north Belfast home and they parted company.
Her mother rang her several times during the night and the next morning but got no reply and called round to the house.
Three of Ms Morgan’s children were there. One said their mother was in a bedroom covered in blood.
One of the children had been trying to rouse her, repeatedly calling “mum, mum, mum”.
Ms Morgan’s mother told police there was evidence of a serious assault in the room and she knew that her daughter was dead.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Morgan had suffered a “catastrophic head injury” and had been subjected to a sustained assault.
When McIlvenna was arrested that evening police found blood on his clothing.
During interview he said he had gone to Ms Morgan’s home at around midnight and struck her several times.
The court heard there had been aggravating factors, including the fact that he did not tried to summon help, that he left the children in the house with their dying mother and that he had a record of violence, including domestic assault.
He had also consumed cocaine at the time of the murder.
A defence lawyer said her client had psychiatric issues which had required hospital admission.
He now accepted that “paranoid thoughts” about Ms Morgan having affairs were completely unfounded.
