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Tributes to 'kind and wonderful mother' as murder investigation continues

Eimear Flanagan
BBC News NI
BBC A close up of blue teddy bear, a bunch of sunflowers and floral bouquets with handwritten notes. They are among items placed in tribute to Donaghadee murder victim Sarah Montgomery.BBC
Blue teddy bears and sunflowers are among the items placed in tribute to Donaghadee murder victim Sarah Montgomery

Teddy bears, tributes and flowers have been left near the scene where a pregnant woman died as police continue to question a man in connection with her murder.

Sarah Montgomery, who was 27, was the mother of two young girls and pregnant with her third child when she died at her home in Donaghadee, County Down.

One of the tributes left outside the house at Elmfield Walk described her as a "beautiful, kind and wonderful mother".

A 28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder remains in police custody on Monday.

PSNI Sarah Montgomery standing near a road, in front of a tree or shrub. She is smiling at the camera. She has long, straight fair hair with a central parting and is wearing a red top or dress with a white ditsy floral pattern, a gold necklace and earrings. PSNI
Sarah Montgomery was a 27-year-old mother of two who was pregnant with her third child

'Shocked and stunned'

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) first received a report of the attack at about 14:15 BST on Saturday.

Officers were told an unconscious, seriously injured woman was inside the house at Elmfield Walk.

PSNI officers and ambulance staff responded and paramedics provided medical treatment but Ms Montgomery was pronounced dead at the scene.

A murder investigation was announced on Sunday, with Det Ch Insp Tom Phillips describing it as a "deeply tragic case".

Ulster Unionist councillor Mark Brooks said on Monday that the community in Donaghadee "are shocked and stunned at the brutality of the attack".

Women's Aid NI released a statement on Monday, noting that Ms Montgomery was the 27th woman to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020 "the vast majority of whom were killed in their own homes".

The organisation expressed its "sincerest condolences" to the victim's family, friends and the wider Donaghadee community.

"Please know you are all in our thoughts at this incredibly difficult time, and we can't even begin to understand your devastating loss," it added.

A forensic investigator standing outside a row of terraced properties at Elmfield Walk in Donaghadee where Sarah Montgomery died on Saturday. The investigator is dressed in a white hazmat suit and is holding a clipboard. The properties are two stories in height and there are a couple of sets of concrete steps leading to the first floor properties. There are cordons to the front and side of one ground floor property.
Forensic investigators examined the scene at Elmfield Walk on Sunday

At the scene: Tributes as police presence remains

by Kelly Bonner, BBC News NI reporter

At the home of Sarah Montgomery in Donaghadee, neighbours and friends have left flowers and blue teddies.

One note, paying tribute to a "beautiful, kind and wonderful mother" adds: "Thinking of you and your family and your 2 girls."

Another note says: "So sorry, Sarah. You were a great mummy and a lovely girl."

Near where these tributes have been laid, the police cordon at her house is still in place as officers continue to investigate.

A close up of some of the handwritten tributes, teddies and flowers laid near the police cordon. One of the notes reads: RIP Sarah – beautiful, kind and wonderful mother.
Mourners left hand-written notes praising the victim for how well she cared for her two young daughters

MP condemns 'barbaric' murder

Local residents who spoke to BBC News NI over the weekend described her as a bright, bubbly and loving mother.

The local MP, Alex Easton, said Ms Montgomery's children attended the same primary school as his own grandchild and she was regularly seen on the school run.

"She's been described as somebody who kept to herself and never was in any bother," he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He said he had been speaking to residents in Donaghadee over the weekend and they were still "extremely shocked by what's happened".

Easton described the murder as "wrong and barbaric" and said more action is needed to protect women and girls.

"I think Stormont maybe needs to look at doing some sort of education in our schools - that our children are taught that violence against women is totally wrong," he added.

'Palpable sense of shock' in Donaghadee

Mark Brooks in yellow jacket standing in front of the harbour and lighthouse in Donaghadee, with an orange, white and blue boat in the far right corner.
Ulster Unionist councillor Mark Brooks said Ms Montgomery would not be forgotten

Alliance councillor Hannah Irwin revisited the scene on Monday and told Good Morning Ulster it was "particularly poignant" to stand next to the tributes.

She said two young girls had lost their mother and she could not imagine what the children must be going through.

"I know there's just a palpable sense of shock in the Donaghadee community at the minute to see such a young life taken so soon," she told the programme.

Irwin said Northern Ireland has "a serious problem with violence against women and girls and we need to be doing more about it".

The councillor argued that education and early intervention was needed "so we can reach a stage where women aren't losing their lives and women aren't being abused or assaulted".

"We need to tackle that pervasive misogyny in society first off, so we don't reach that stage in the first place."

Councillor Mark Brooks described Ms Montgomery as "a lovely girl".

"I can't imagine how Sarah's little girls are feeling today," he added.

"Sarah won't be forgotten."

SDLP assembly member Cara Hunter said it was a "devastating tragedy".

"A woman has lost her life in an act of violence, and children have lost their mother, with their world changed forever," she said.

"There is no grief more profound than that of a child robbed of the love, safety, and care of their mother."