| The Dream Solution
- Articles |
16/11/92
- My Girls couldn't lie to me. I know they are not killers
By Jane Moore
Today
THE words, written on Holloway Prison paper, are simple but poignant:
"We both have to say that you have two daughters to be very
proud of. It is hard to find girls of their ages that are so well
mannered, kind, thoughtful, considerate and understanding.
"Neither of these girls has a single nasty streak in them.
We are with them constantly seven days a week and each day that
passes it becomes harder to comprehend that they were ever convicted
of such a crime. From inmates Sonia Martin and Lynda King"
The girls in question are Michelle and Lisa Taylor, two sisters
who were given life sentences for murder earlier this year.
The past four months have been exhausting for their mother Ann.
Three stone lighter and a virtual insomniac, she has campaigned
tirelessly for their release and her efforts were rewarded last
week when Michelle and Lisa were granted the right to appeal against
their conviction for the murder of Alison O'Shaughnessy. Alison
who was the wife of Michelle's lover John O'Shaughnessy, was found
stabbed 54 times at her flat in South London last year.
At first it seemed to be a motiveless crime, but then police found
out about Michelle's passionate affair with Alison's husband.
the picture painted in court was one of a jealous and possessive
mistress who enlisted the help of her younger sister to kill.
But Ann Taylor has vowed she will never give up until she has
proved the prosecution wrong. "My girls are innocent,"
she says resolutely. "I know people might say 'Well she would
say that, wouldn't she?' but you have to know my girls to know
they just wouldn't do such a thing. "They are both gentle
and kind, and are not capable of doing something like this, let
alone covering it up with such success. "I would know if
they were lying.
Any mother would know if their daughters were lying over such
a major thing. "They are both finding prison life tough and
would have cracked by now if they were guilty." Ann and Derek
Taylor's semi-detached house in south-east London is not difficult
to spot. Its windows are plastered with posters proclaiming the
girls' innocence, as are those of their neighbours. "The
support we have from people around here is amazing," says
Ann, 44. Even the inmates of Holloway Prison, where until recently
the girls were placed, think they are innocent, as the letter
Ann received showed.
To this day Ann finds it hard to believe they were convicted.
After the 15-day trial in July Ann was convinced the girls would
both be returning home having been cleared of the charge. "We
didn't even contemplate anything else. There was no forensic evidence
to link them to the crime," she says. "I just went numb
with shock when the jury found them guilty."
One of the most incriminating things against the girls was the
discovery of Michelle's diary at the private Churchill Clinic
in London where she worked with John O'Shaughnessy. It detailed
her affair with John. In one entry she refers to his wife as an
"unwashed bitch".. Another, eight months before the
murder, reads: "I wish Alison could just disappear as if
she never existed".
Ann raises her eyes heavenward when the diary is mentioned: "It
is a fact of life that young girls write horrible things about
people in their diaries," she says. "I am sure that
Michelle would rather John hadn't been married to Alison, but
that doesn't mean to say she is going to go out and murder her,
let alone involve her much-loved sister in the crime".
The Taylors' world fell apart at 5.40am on August 7 when ten police
officers arrived at their home to arrest Michelle and Lisa for
murder. "I couldn't believe this was happening to my family.
It was like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from," says Ann.
"I have four children, and the police have never had cause
to knock on our door before.
We are a good, law-abiding family. Ann's other children are David,
24, and 14-year-old Tracy, who has been badly affected by her
sisters' convictions. "She has been through an awful lot,"
says Ann. "It's very hard for her because she has lost two
sisters. It was a great shock." Both Michelle, 22, and Lisa,
19, have lost a lot of weight since going to prison. Ann says:
"Lisa is finding prison very hard.
She gets very down and depressed and rings here a lot. "I
have to be quite hard on her sometimes because I have so much
to sort out I can't let myself become depressed about it too.
"They have very mixed feelings really - anger because they
have been put away for something they didn't do, and defiance
to see justice done."
The girls have now been moved to Bullwood Prison, near Southend
but Ann and her husband Derek - a contract cleaner - are hopeful
their girls will be home again for the New Year. In the meantime
they visit them once a fortnight. Ann adds: "Even if we lose
the appeal and the girls have to see out the full term in prison,
I shall still be campaigning to prove their innocence long after
they have been released. "
It is terrible that Alison O'Shaughnessy died in such a brutal
way and her family has our heartfelt sympathy. But it wasn't our
girls that did it and I am going to prove it." |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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