National
SA woman killed in Ireland a "devoted mother"─── 08:07 Fri, 19 Dec 2014
Dublin - A South African woman who was stabbed to death in front of her two children in Ireland has been described as a devoted mother.
Angelique Belling, 27, and her partner, Cornelius, 44, were both found with fatal stab wounds in Kildysart, Co Clare, on Wednesday night.
Belling is believed to have suffered stab wounds to her chest while her husband had a serious injury to his neck.
The exact details of what happened are still being investigated but police believe the couple stabbed each other in a domestic dispute.
Teresa Cavanagh, a local friend of Mrs Belling paid tribute to her friend and her "two beautiful children".
Cavanagh said the couple were struggling financially and often thanked her for helping them by buying food and providing them with warm clothing, while also buying toys for her two daughters.
"She just said nobody would look after us in South Africa like you have done here and several other people," she told Today with Sean O'Rouke on RTE Radio One.
"She loved Kildysart and said she was going to make it her home. She said people were so kind to her here. She told me she had no way of ironing her clothes, she didn't have an electric iron, so I said I have a spare one at home and took it back to her."
"I went to the local shop and I bought toys for the two children, then I went to one of the shops and I bought a big bag of shopping for them. This is about maybe four weeks ago."
Cavanagh added how much she adored their two daughters, describing them as "beautiful".
"Everybody is shocked," she added to the radio programme. "She was such a lovely person and she was devoted to the two children. One of them would sit at the right of me, the other would sit at the left of me. They were just beautiful."
It's unclear where the children are currently being cared for, but Cornelius has a sister living nearby and Angelique had a good friend, whom Teresa had never met, who would often care for them.
According to the report, a bloodied woman was seen running out of a house before collapsing on the footpath.
Campus.ie reported a child was with her at the time.
The couple’s children are aged 3 and 5. Irish police say they are not looking for a third suspect.
The Bellings had moved to the rural Irish town only two months ago.
