‘May angels look after you’
TRIBUTES TO UNBORN BABY KILLED WHEN PREGNANT TEEN AND HUSBAND DIED IN CRASH AFTER POLICE CHASE
EMOTIONAL tributes have been paid to the unborn baby killed when a pregnant teenager and her husband died in a head-on car crash following a police chase on the A40.
Newlyweds Patrick and Shauna McDonagh were expecting a baby girl in April, according to moving farewells from family and friends on social media.
They have been named on social media as the couple who died on the A40, when a car reportedly veered onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into a coach.
Moments before a police helicopter and police cars had been chasing the vehicle, after linking it to a burglary .
Four men apparently forced their way into a house in Pinner - allegedly punching one occupant and threatening to kill the others with a large knife.
A complex police investigation is underway.
It’s clear from the outpouring of grief that Patrick and Shauna had many loving family and friends.
Many members of the public have focused their sympathies on the couple’s unborn child.
Emma Lewis wrote on the My West London Facebook page: “Rest in peace innocent baby x.”
While Rebecca Anne Richardson also used the word innocent in relation to the child.
She said: “So so sad for that poor innocent baby. RIP.”
But Carol Jones was more broadly sympathetic, writing: “How dreadful. Poor families.”
Scores of public comments have been left remembering the newlyweds. A YouTube account has also been created since their deaths on Sunday February 10.
The first activity on the ‘Princess Mcdonagh’ account was on Monday February 11.
Five videos have been posted to the account, seemingly showing moving family occasions for Patrick and Shauna. Different clips appear to show Shauna receiving a birthday cake and the couple dancing.
Another shows a man singing, with those behind the camera shouting encouragement like ‘go on Patrick.’
One video pulls together a number of tributes from family and friends to the couple.
The messages of sympathy suggest they are originally from Ireland, despite living in Edgware in North London.
Comments on the YouTube account include one from someone referring to Shauna as his ‘doll’ of a cousin.
While another tribute says: “RIP Patrick and Shauna and unborn child. May angels look after ya’all.”
Shauna’s sister, Bridgie Mongan, was one of many to write emotional messages on Facebook.
She said: “Why God did u have 2 do this? They was the most happy couple going. They’re only due their little princess [in] April. What we gonna do without them? My baby sister and my brother-in-law is gone.”
She added she could not ‘believe’ the tragic news and that Patrick and Shauna kept her house ‘lively.’
Patrick’s sister Lexi-Rose Lawrence also wrote: “R.I.P Patrick and Shauna and my unborn niece love ye so much love u my bro so much dunno how I’m gunna cope.”
“Fly high angels a whole little family gone to heaven,” she added.
While Mary Patricia McDonagh said: “Very cruel world. So sorry for yer loss my heart goes out to ye. In my prayers, RIP angels.”
Anne Margaret added: “Sorry for your loss. May they get the best bed in heaven.”
And Margaret McCarthy was one of a large number to leave a simple tribute, simply saying: “RIP, fly high.”
Latest developments in police investigation
Three days on from the fatal crash that led to the deaths of Patrick and Shauna, police investigations into both the burglary and the crash continue.
While the Metropolitan Police continues to look into the aggravated burglary in Pinner, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is looking into the A40 fatal collision separately, because of the Met’s involvement in a police pursuit just before it.
The Metropolitan Police revealed on Wednesday February 13 that an arrest was made in connection with the burglary in the early hours of the morning.
In a statement, the Met said: “The man, believed to be aged 19, was arrested in Harrow in the early hours of Wednesday, February 13 on suspicion of aggravated burglary. He remains in custody.”
Police told My London on Tuesday February 12 one man had already been arrested on suspicion of burglary.
It’s unclear if this man was the third casualty in the A40 crash, who witnesses saw being pulled bleeding from the wreckage.
The injured man was in a stable condition on Tuesday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.