| Tragic death of woman desperate to
go home By staff reporter
AN Irish woman, her baby and another man were found dead in a flat in
London last week.
The woman, Margaret Ward aged 29, was thought to be from Blackrock in
Dublin. Her body was found, along with that of her four month old baby
daughter and that of a 49 year old Algerian man in her ground floor flat
at Birchdown House in Tower Hamlets, East London.
It is believed the woman had stab wounds while neither the man thought
to be the child’s father or the baby had any obvious injuries. The
Metropolitan Police’s homicide unit has launched an investigation
into the deaths.
Police are reported to have described it as a domestic incident and are
not thought to be looking for anyone else in connection with their investigation.
Local councillor Mohammed Abdul Munim who represents the Respect Party
lives in the same block of flats, and said he spoke with the Irish woman
last week and found she was “stressed”.
“She told me she was homeless and that the Homeless Service had
transferred her here,” he said.
Neighbour Amanda Gunnell claimed she knew the Irish woman for six months
and that the dead man was the baby girl’s father.
“She was very pretty but her relationship with this man was a big
problem,” she said.
“When he would verbally abuse her on the street she would try to
shrug it off. He was quite big, about 6ft tall. She thought he was cheating
on her.
“She missed Ireland and really wanted to go back but he was holding
her back. He would just show up when he was looking for money or somewhere
to crash.
“She wanted out but he followed her. She mentioned that she used
to work in a bar in Dublin and I think she met him through that. I’m
going to miss her very much.”
Neighbours said Margaret came to London to escape the man after the relationship
turned violent.
She was from a middle-class family and was desperate to return home
to Dublin. Ms Gunnell said the woman did not want to rekindle her relationship
with her child’s father.
She said: “She wanted to move on with her life and she wanted to
move out of the area.
“She said she wanted to go back to Ireland. I got the impression
that her family didn’t like her boyfriend.”
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