A 33-year-old Irishman who allegedly doused his girlfriend in an accelerant before setting her on fire is now facing a manslaughter charge and up to 20 years in a Belgian prison after she died in hospital.
Our picture shows Inishowen native Shaun McLaughlin posing happily with girlfriend Sofie Van Der Steen (37) on the picturesque Donegal peninsula where they lived until October 2019.
However, the idyllic image of a happy couple portrayed in the photo was brutally shattered on the night of September 2 when Sofie s horrified grandmother witnessed her granddaughter running completely ablaze from the pair s mobile home in Looystraat, Njilen, Belgium.
The shocked pensioner called emergency services as Sofie jumped in a pool in the garden to try to put out the flames.