Alison Connolly believed her mother's life was thrown into chaos due to her father's sexual abuse - and when she was murdered, she confronted the abuser to finally bring them to justiceAnn Cusack10:29, 24 May 2026Updated 10:30, 24 May 2026Alison Connolly's tragic life saw her abused by her father before being murdered by two vicious sisters.Her daughter Tara was abused by the same man and blames her vile grandfather for knocking her mum's life off the rails which ultimately led to her being killed.But brave Tara achieved justice when she confronted her grandfather before her mum's funeral - recording a confession which eventually saw him jailed along with the women who attacked and stabbed her mother to death.Now Tara, 39, has written a book about her ordeal journey to justice and has also trained as a volunteer to support other families affected by murder.READ MORE: Men having grim leg-lengthening surgery to be just inches taller as horror risks exposedREAD MORE: Climber dies after plunging 2,000ft down volcano on birthday – hours after ominous postMum of eight Alison Connolly, 49, was brutally attacked by two sisters Charice and Amberstasia Gassmann, then 19 and 23, in May 2015.The pair were convicted of murder and manslaughter respectively. Charice was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years. Amberstasia was sentenced to 12 years in jail.Tara revealed her mother was a victim of sexual abuse as a child by her father but had never been able to speak out.Before her mother’s funeral, Tara, who was also a victim of the abuse, obtained a recorded confession from her grandfather, Mark Connolly. He was later jailed for 19 years and died in prison.Mum of two, Tara, from South Wales, says: “The child abuse was the catalyst for everything which went wrong in Mum’s life. She was vulnerable and lacking in confidence.“She could never stand up to her father, but she did her best for all her children; she loved us all so much and she gave us strength and resilience.“It was that same strength which helped me confront my grandfather, before the funeral. I took his confession to the police, and he was arrested as a result.“I feel proud that I got justice for Mum but we miss her so much every day.”Tara was aware her mother had been abused from an early age. Tara says: “Mum told me her dad sexually abused her throughout her childhood. She couldn’t ever confront him; it was just brushed under the carpet."She suffered with mental health issues, low self-esteem and depression, as a result. Growing up, I felt like I was the one looking after her. She was vulnerable.”Tragically, Tara was also sexually abused by her grandfather, including him forcing her to watch pornography and sexually assaulting her.She says: “I didn’t dare report him; I’d been brought up not to confide in people. And I was worried we might be taken away by social services. I loved my Mum, and she loved us, despite her problems.“Even though she had no money, she always made sure we had Christmas and birthday presents. She was very protective of us in her own way. She didn’t want me to suffer as she had, and it broke her heart that her own father was a monster.”‌Aged 16, Tara left home but remained close to her mother. Tara says: “My family was targeted by two sisters, Charice and Amberstasia Gassman, who were local bullies. They called my sister, Kylie, names, and spat at her. Mum always stood up for us and she told them to leave her family alone.“They threatened her with a screwdriver, and Mum told the police. But there had been no physical violence, so there wasn’t much they could do. We thought they were a nuisance, nothing more.”‌But in May 2015, the sisters covered a moped, belonging to sister Kylie’s boyfriend, in brown sauce and threw it against her door.Tara says: “Kylie was terrified, and Mum confronted one of the sisters in the shop and got into a scuffle. Mum must have been scared because she wet herself, but she fought back.”‌In broad daylight and outside a block of flats, both sisters ambushed Alison, and she was stabbed to death by Charice.Tara says: “We were shell-shocked. We couldn’t believe she was gone, so brutally and needlessly. It was devastating.”As the family planned her funeral, Tara decided to confront her grandfather about the abuse. She says: “Mum’s life started to unravel when the abuse began. She would not have been vulnerable, she would not have been murdered, had the abuse not happened. It was a chain reaction from that moment.‌“I waited for him in his house until he came home. I thought he might deny it, but he admitted it all. I got the feeling he was ready to confess, and I had it all on a recording.”Tara went to the police, and Mark Connolly, known also as Martin, was arrested.‌In December 2015, Charise and Amberstasia Gassman appeared before Bristol Crown Court. The court heard the sisters were violent and Charise had previously admitted that she felt she could kill someone.The pair were slammed after giggling in court and mocking their victim. Charice was jailed for 19 years for Alison’s murder, and Amberstasia was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter.Tara says: “The sentences brought us no comfort. As a family, we were shattered.”‌In January 2017, Martin Connolly, 77, aka Mark Connolly, appeared before Swindon Crown Court and admitted sexually abusing and raping five children over a forty-year period. He was jailed for 19 years and died in prison in 2022.Tara says: “I was glad he went to jail because it meant that other children were safe from him. He ruined my mums’ life, and he tried to ruin mine, but I didn’t let him.“I felt mum was with me, giving me strength throughout the case. I hope she’d be proud that he faced justice at last.”‌Tara says her children, Shania, 20, and Brandon, 17, have been her greatest support and she has now trained as a counsellor to support other families affected by murder and manslaughter. She has written a book: ‘The Reckoning’ which is released this week.She says: “I forgive her killers, because I don’t want to carry that anger with me. I want them to know that our hearts are broken but I will not be defined by pain or upbringing. I am a survivor and my mums strength lives in me.”Article continues belowThe Reckoning by Tara Proffitt ( Mirror Books, £10.99) is on sale now from all good bookshops and Amazon.Online link for Amazon - The Reckoning - Generations of abuse. A murdered mother. A daughter determined to get justice.