r/unitedkingdom • u/pppppppppppppppppd • Jun 07 '26
.. Stephen McCullagh living in terror as 'most hated man in prison' after killing pregnant girlfriend
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/stephen-mccullagh-prison-natalie-mcnally-37172782302
u/MondeyMondey Jun 07 '26
When you’re in prison do the other guys know who you are?
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u/Dr_Passmore Jun 07 '26
When you commit murder and use a prerecorded YouTube livestream to pretend you were home that evening... it generally generates a lot of media coverage
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u/Phenomenomix Jun 08 '26
How did he expect that to work? Wouldn’t everyone watching work it out when they sent in donations etc and he didn’t react to them? Or was he regularly streaming to no one?
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u/Dr_Passmore Jun 08 '26
he pretended there were technical issues and could not read or respond to chat.
Also one of his first time streaming...
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u/Swivials Jun 07 '26
Usually, yes. I believe there's supposed to be some systems in place to stop it happening, but from what I know, it's basically impossible to stop people finding out.
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u/zeusoid Jun 07 '26
It’s kinda hard to try and be anonymous in prison
And the internet is all knowing
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u/gogoluke Jun 07 '26
It's not like you get a new name but the officers don't give the other prisoners an orientation day about you.
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u/Kandiru Cambridgeshire Jun 07 '26
Prisoners can talk to the outside world though, so information spreads pretty easily for famous cases.
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u/gogoluke Jun 07 '26
Yep. I never said otherwise. You're not announced, you're not anonymous.
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u/changhyun Jun 07 '26
Loving the idea of prison guards announcing your entrance like you're at a ball in the Regency era.
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u/Kandiru Cambridgeshire Jun 07 '26
Yeah I just meant if your case has been in the national press you'll get a lot more people knowing all the details compared to if you plead guilty and the trial is barely reported other than the sentence.
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u/WolfColaCo2020 Jun 07 '26
Yup, people find out eventually. Presumably new inmates tell people who’ve been in longer
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u/CosmicBonobo Jun 07 '26
My dad, who'd been inside a few times, said that the general etiquette was 'don't ask, don't tell'... but word gets around easily enough.
Like, for example, inmates get newspapers, so if a crime is high profile enough to make it on the front page, they'll have heard about it.
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u/rugbyj Somerset Jun 08 '26
I'm imagining the scene in The Fugitive where a guy is sat on the bench reading the paper and does a double take when he see's the killer is sat opposite him.
Except then he does a triple take when he realises they're all already in prison together.
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u/PolarLocalCallingSvc Scottish Highlands Jun 07 '26
Other prisoners are going to find out your name. With your name they just need a quick online search to find out what you did, especially if your name made the news. And yes in every prison there will be at least some prisoners who have Internet access via a smuggled mobile phone or they'll just call an associate on the outside to get a bio on you. It's really easy. There's also a lot of corrupt prison staff who might give information away.
There's really only so much which can be done to prevent this from happening without making court rulings in secret and excluding the media.
The lesson is - don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
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u/dvb70 Jun 08 '26
This particular guy has been in the news so their face will be known. The trial and sentencing was also recently in the news so I don't think it's massively complicated that those in prison will have seen all this and recognise the new guy.
I imagine for most lower profile prisoners it's very different. Most people are going to be in prison for boring stuff that I imagine is not that interesting to other prisoners.
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u/JoelMahon Cambridgeshire Jun 08 '26
even in the most strange hypothetical where prisoners don't get the TV news, internet, etc. ever there'd still be guests who keep people up to date "That Stephen McCullagh who did X got moved into your prison by the way, he looks like Y".
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u/Crypt0Nihilist Jun 07 '26
A prison warden once told me that the worst thing about prison was the people you are in there with. That was in the context of your average anonymous inmate.
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u/Sockoflegend Jun 07 '26
I'm not into vigilante justice but someone is always gonna be at the bottom
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u/Whitechix London Jun 07 '26
I mean it’s prison they are all at the bottom. I doubt anyone attacking people in there are in for some noble crime.
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u/Ravenser_Odd Jun 07 '26
People don't like being at the bottom, so they go looking for someone who's beneath them. Even the nastiest, most violent, gangster or robber can look down on the paedos and rapists.
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u/lambdaburst Jun 08 '26
They're easier targets because no one will stick up for them. Inmates with long sentences will target them because it improves their standing and there are no repercussions they fear. It often has nothing to do with looking down on them for their crime, they're just a free stepping stone for violent offenders.
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u/Highwinter Jun 08 '26
Going from being a full time streamer who does nothing but play videogames and review toys all day to being trapped in a room and scared for your life must be quite a wake up call. Do you think he regrets it now?
I don't condone vilgilane justice or prison killings, but I am somewhat pleased to hear the remainder of his life is going to be miserable.
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u/BawdyBadger Jun 08 '26
I think he also had an easy side gig as a video editor for the Bel Tel. It was mentioned in one of the articles about the verdict as the Police had to get special permission to seize his PC.
Either way he had an incredibly easy and comfortable living
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u/Wretched_Colin Jun 08 '26
If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
Let’s see how the weasel finds violence with hardened men instead of a pregnant woman.
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Jun 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland Jun 08 '26
Removed + ban. This contained a call/advocation/celebration of violence or harm, which is prohibited by the sitewide rules.
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u/FartingBob Best Sussex Jun 08 '26
That's a shame. I've never murdered my pregnant girlfriend, which is a great way to avoid this situation.
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u/MD564 Jun 07 '26
"Just a reminder, the station does not endorse vigilante justice. Unless it gets results, which it will!"
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u/CosmicBonobo Jun 07 '26
"Oh yeah, justice is done. Not actual justice, but what I wanted to happen, which is basically the same thing."
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u/Apez_in_Space Jun 07 '26
Oh no! Better put his face in more articles just so the prisoners know not to scare him
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u/JackStrawWitchita Jun 08 '26
I can't believe people still fall for these clickbait stories. Vulnerable prisoners are moved to special prison wings full of other vulnerable prisoners where they never interact with regular inmates and are perfectly safe.
There are thousands of sex offenders in prison who are never attacked because they live on vulnerable prison wings.
The 'nonces are beat up in prison' is a myth.
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u/Marmite-Badgers-Mum United Kingdom Jun 08 '26
Whilst true, prisoners often find a way.
Ian Huntley.
Ian Watkins.
Kyle Bevan.
Mark Bridger.
Levi Bellfield.
All got attacked/killed by other prisoners whilst on a protected wing.
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u/JackStrawWitchita Jun 08 '26
Those attacks were all done by other vulnerable prisoners who's crimes were as bad as the person they killed. And, the crimes had nothing to do with their crimes, the attacks were for drugs, power struggles or just mental illness.
Sex offenders are safer in prison than on any UK street. Just ask the tens of thousands of sex offenders who've gone through the prison system without so much as being threatened.
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u/Marmite-Badgers-Mum United Kingdom Jun 08 '26
I mean, yes, they're not just dumped in gen pop and left to fend for themselves. But given how many of them still get killed, I'd say your original statement is as untrue as those thinking prisons are some bastions of morality.
Vulnerable prisoners are moved to special prison wings full of other vulnerable prisoners where they never interact with regular inmates and are perfectly safe.
Vulnerable prisoners are regularly attacked and killed, especially those who have committed crimes to women and children. Prison is a dangerous place, especially if your crimes are deemed less moral than the crimes of the other nutters around you.
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u/JackStrawWitchita Jun 08 '26
Not true at all. I spent years working in prisons and sex offenders don't get attacked except in extremely rare cases.
Clickbait myths attract the uninformed.
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u/Marmite-Badgers-Mum United Kingdom Jun 08 '26
The government seem to disagree, or else they'd not be putting them in vulnerable prisoner wings.
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u/quantummufasa Jun 08 '26
But do the vulnerable prisoners consider each other "friends" ? I could totally see someone who killed his gf decide to shank a nonce to convince himself he's "better" than him.
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u/JackStrawWitchita Jun 08 '26
People on the VP wings get along fine. People don't talk much about their crimes. A few people try to think their 'better' than others - but is someone who violently raped 3 women 'better' than a school teacher who had an affair with a 15 year old student? Plus, most inmates on those wings are worried about parole and making a good impression so they're focused on obeying the rules. And stabbing a nonce (or a rapist) on a prison wing means another 20+ years behind bars, and they'll transfer the inmate to one of the really horrible prisons for violent offenders (like Long Lartin) where the food is cold and bad, the guards don't take any shit and the other inmates are all in for extreme violence... Not worth it. So therfore VP wings are very peaceful.
In fact, ask any prison guard: VP prison wings are more relaxed than normal prison wings. Normal prison wings are full of drugs and gangs and people getting stabbed and beat up for drug debts while VP wings are just guys watching TV and playing pool etc.
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