What had Mandy done?
Danielle with baby Dylan
Thursday 18th October 2007
My sister, Mandy Fitzpatrick, frowned. She'd seen the fresh bruises that covered my arms.
'Seriously Danielle,' she sighed. 'You've got to leave him.'
I rolled my eyes. Here we go again…
Noel Hogarth, 25, was my everything – the father of my two children Kyla, 18 months, and 6-week-old, Dylan, my best friend, and the only man who'd ever loved me. When he was sober, he was the most romantic, loving guy. He'd run me baths and surprise me with flowers. Some mornings he'd even treat me to a fry-up in bed. And he was a brilliant father.
But when Noel wass drunk, he could be, well, a bit of a swine, even violent towards me. But I wasn't going to admit any of that to Mandy. I couldn't bear her thinking bad of Noel or thinking bad of me for that matter. So if Noel and I did row, if he ever raised his hand, I kept it to myself.
Mandy of course, wasn't fooled. She couldn't stand Noel so, more often than not, when I wanted to see her, I'd go to the flat she shared with her boyfriend Daniel Jones, 22, further down our street.
One day two weeks later, I'd spent another afternoon gossiping with Mandy when I got home at 6pm to find Noel parked in front of the telly.
'I'm off to Darren's,' he said, getting up.
His mate Darren Edmondson, 32, lived next door. They'd often sit at his playing video games.
'See you later,' I smiled.
I was tidying the living room when Noel walked in two hours later.
'Give us some money,' he slurred. 'I wanna buy some beers.'
Looking at his red eyes and the way he was swaying, I could tell he'd had a fair few already.
'Sorry love,' I said. 'But you know we can't afford it.'
With me and Noel both on benefits, we were hardly flush.
Frowning, Noel staggered out. But he was back two hours later, and this time his frown had turned into a furious scowl.
'You can't tell me what to do with my money you slag,' he roared, drunkly looming over me on the settee.
Noel hit me with was a torrent of abuse.
'I'm sick of you,' he yelled. 'Take the kids and get out.'
I didn't dare argue back. Experience had taught me that.
Grabbing the kids from their beds along with an armful of their clothes, I quickly buckled them into their double buggy. Behind me, I heard a loud crash coming from the flat.
'He's trashing the place,' I gasped, horrified.
I buzzed on Mandy and Daniel's intercom.
'What's the matter?' Daniel asked, letting me in.
'It's Noel,' I wept. 'He's gone mad. Can we stay here tonight?'
Daniel ushered me into the living room, where I told Mandy what had happened.
'The way that man treats you,' she fumed. 'It's disgusting.'
I slumped on the settee crying. I was in no mood for a lecture. By now, I was sobbing so hard I only noticed Mandy had left when I heard the front door slam. I didn't know where she'd gone, didn't care.
Then ten minutes later, Mandy walked back in. Her arms hung limply at her sides, a pair of decorating scissors, stained with blood in her right hand.
'Mandy,' I said, my heart banging out of my chest. 'What's happened?'
The look on her face told me everything I needed to know.
'You've attacked him haven't you?' I yelled. 'You've attacked Noel.'
For a second she just stared. Then she turned and ran to the front door.
'I've got to go,' she yelled.
Frantic I rang Scunthorpe General Hospital to see if Noel had been admitted. He hadn't. I ran back inside to Daniel.
'Watch the kids,' I said. 'I'm going home.'
As I raced round the corner towards my flat, I froze. There was an ambulance and police cars outside.
'Noel!' I screamed, running towards my door.
Then a police officer approached me.
'He's been stabbed in the neck,' he said.
I didn't get chance to ask any more as he ushered me into a police car.
My head span as I was driven to the station. The police kept asking where Mandy was.
'I don't know,' I wept.
All I cared about was finding out if Noel was OK.
At the station, I was taken to an interview room.
'I want to see Noel,' I told an officer.
The man frowned.
'I'm afraid Noel passed away at two minutes before midnight,' he said.
'No,' I screamed. Then my legs went and I fell to my knees sobbing. 'Not my baby.'
I was hysterical as police helped me into a chair. They told me Mandy had been arrested.
'She's been charged with murder,' an officer said.
'I can't believe it,' I kept saying over and over.
The man I loved had been murdered by my own sister.
Back at Mum's, I couldn't face anyone, not even my own children. They reminded me too much of Noel. Noel had been dead just two days when I spilt some Cheerios on the hall carpet. I was cleaning it up when I overheard Darren talking to Daniel in his bedroom.
'Mandy gave me the scissors,' he was saying. 'So I threw them in Ashby Ville lake.'
I shook, stunned. Darren was in on this too?
'You have to tell the police,' I told him.
While my parents cared for the kids, I blotted out those next five days with booze. Even though Noel was violent and frightened me sometimes, he didn't deserve this. Normally Dad would have hugged me, told me everything would be OK. But this time he didn't.
'It's Mandy you should be thinking of now,' he said. 'She's your sister. She was only trying to protect you.'
After everything she'd done?
'What about my kids?' I raged. 'They've lost their father.'
'That wasn't Mandy's fault,' Mum butted in.
I gawped at her, stunned. 'Mandy can rot in hell,' I wanted to scream.
But I bit my lip. I knew this was painful for Mum and Dad too.
After the funeral, the months before Mandy's trial stretched torturously ahead. Mum and Dad were always talking about it.
'Poor Mandy,' they'd say. 'I hope the jury find her innocent.'
It took all my strength not to scream – 'they should lock her up for life.'
To them, Mandy was still their 'little girl', but to me she was no longer my protective big sister. She was a murderer, a bitch, the woman who'd destroyed my life.
After six months living at my parents I moved with the kids into a new council flat. With the trial looming, emotions in the house were running too high.
Finally, on July 23rd 2007, Mandy's trial started at Sheffield Crown Court. Though she admitted unlawful killing, Mandy denied murder. She claimed she'd 'snapped' but hadn't meant to kill Noel. The court heard how Noel had died after she'd plunged a pair of scissors into his neck while he was stood at the bus stop.
Then it was my turn to take the stand. Shaking, I gripped the heavy rail as Mandy's defence team asked me if Noel was ever violent towards me.
'No,' I lied. It was wrong, I know. But after the heartbreak of losing Noel, I couldn't face dragging his name and mine through the mud.
That next day though, I felt terrible. It wasn't just Mandy who was on trial. Darren had admitted charges of assisting an offender.
'If I don't tell the truth, I couldn't live with myself,' I realised. So I told my police liason officer and took the stand again the next day.
'Forgive me Noel,' I thought as I admitted to the court that he'd hit me.
'But only when he was drunk,' I stressed.
The trial lasted a week. I wasn't in court to hear the outcome, couldn't face it. But Darren's girlfriend Nicole Marshall, 19, rang to tell me.
'Mandy's been found guilty,' she said. 'She got 15 years.'
It seemed a heck of a long time.
'But it's what she deserves,' I thought.
I was hugely relieved though, to hear Darren was only given an eight-month suspended sentence. He didn't deserve jail.
Naively, I hoped that would be the end of things, a chance for me and the kids to move on.
But my family were furious that I'd initially told the court Noel wasn't violent. They felt I'd betrayed Mandy. We're still not speaking.
Mandy always was a protective older sister. But in trying to defend me, she ended up destroying my life.
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