Mum in murder-suicide probe buried today
Sinead Higgins, aged 37, a qualified nurse who was living and working in England, is believed to have killed her son, Oisín, 7, before taking her own life at their home in Ruislip, West London, last month.
Her family gathered in her home village of Aughagower yesterday after her remains were returned from London and they will say their farewells at her funeral Mass at midday today.
The local area has been deeply shocked by the deaths which were discovered on December 14 when Oisín’s father, Ms Higgins’s former partner, raised the alarm after his son failed to turn up at school and he could make no contact with his mother.
Shane O’Driscoll, from Bray, Co Wicklow but also living in London, led mourners at Oisín’s funeral in his home town just before Christmas and the little boy was buried a short distance away in Kilternan Cemetery.
The Higgins family were represented by Oisín’s grandmother, Mary Higgins, at the ceremony during which Mr O’Driscoll spoke of Oisín’s love for his mother.
Ms Higgins’s funeral Mass will take place at Aughagower Church and she will be buried in Aughagower Cemetery.
The deaths are the subject of a murder-suicide investigation by police in England. An inquest was opened at West London Coroners Court just before Christmas and adjourned to allow for toxicology reports. The court said yesterday no date had been set yet for a further hearing.
Ms Higgins was one of 10 children of Mary and Tom Higgins who suffered a tragic loss in 2004 when their 19-year-old son, Cathal, was killed in a road accident. The family were left grieving again in 2014 when Tom passed away aged 68 just weeks after falling ill.
