Sisters torn apart after dad murdered their mum see each other for first time in 50 years

Two sisters who were separated as children after their dad murdered their mum with a hammer have reunited after 51 years apart.

Janet Brocklehurst and Theresa Fazzani were five and seven when their mum Helen Barnes was bludgeoned to death by her husband Malcolm at their Newport home on 27 December 1973.

Janet and two younger sisters were adopted and moved to Somerset but Theresa was taken in by her family when it was revealed Barnes was not her biological dad.

For more than half a century, the sisters did not know if each other was alive, let alone where they lived, until a Facebook group helped Theresa track down her sisters in July 2025.

She called it "the maddest experience. It was just really exciting".

Two days after Christmas in 1973, with the children fast asleep in their beds, Barnes, 35, took a hammer and beat Helen, 30, to death.

Janet said the trigger was her mum saying she wanted him to leave and the children to stay with her.

Theresa, now 59 and working as a mental health counsellor on the Isle of Wight, remembers walking into the couple's dark bedroom.

"I don't know if something woke me up, but I remember it was not something I'd normally do."

Barnes told her to get her sisters and get ready because he was taking them out.

"Your mum's asleep," he said.

"I remember then us all getting in the car and driving off. I didn't know where we were going out or why at the time."

Malcolm took the children on a five-day drive to John O' Groats and stayed in a hotel until he handed himself in - but there were questions as to whether someone at a petrol station tipped off police.

Janet, 57, who now lives in south Wales, said: "The first we knew anything was wrong was obviously when the police turned up and then took us all to the police station.

"It's scary because, where would have been next after John O' Groats?"

Barnes pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence, but was released after nine years. He died in 2023.

After the children were initially taken into foster care in Scotland, they were moved back to Newport and stayed in care for about a year.

They were forced to visit Barnes in prison every month because of a court order.

By then, Theresa was eight and was told Barnes was not her real dad.

Her biological father, his wife and the wife's step-father came to meet her once before taking her away.

Theresa said: "I thought we were going out, but I wasn't really told that I was going go forever and obviously my sisters weren't told either."

Janet remembers Theresa "walking off so happily with this man" and was then told: "That's it, you're never going to see her again".

"It broke my heart."

Theresa said her dad "wouldn't let me speak about my sisters or see them".

"I found out since I was older, he's even implied to other people that I was making my sisters up and my mum for attention," she added.

Meanwhile, Janet and her siblings were adopted and went to live in Somerset, but Janet said her life was hell.

For years, the only information the sisters had about their mum's death was a newspaper clipping that said Barnes murdered her because she "liked a gay life" and was neglecting her children.

But the sisters do not believe this and Theresa said their babysitter told them their mum "adored" them and had a job in a pub as Barnes would not work.

"I have no memory of our mum being anything but lovely to us," said Theresa.

Theresa said: "My biggest memory is my mum playing Elvis all the time while cooking, and singing and us all being there in the kitchen. I remember my sister Janet was always by my side.

"I don't really recall [mum and Barnes] arguing with each other, I would say that was probably kept away from us."

Janet never stopped thinking about Theresa but had no idea how to find her.

She knew her sister had an Italian last name and sometimes she would come across a potential name online but was worried Theresa would be angry because "my dad killed her mum" and it stopped her in her tracks.

Theresa also thought about trying to contact her sisters, but did not know if they were together, or even alive.

Having had such a traumatic childhood, she was unsure if she could handle it if they rejected her.

Last year, she came across a long-lost family group on Facebook and thought: "I'm coming up to 60 this year, I don't want to die without knowing whether they're alive."

Within two days of asking the group's researchers to help, someone came back and said: "I think I've found your sisters."

Janet video called Theresa and they burst into tears, with Janet saying: "Oh my God I thought I was going to die without knowing you again."

Theresa said the call was "the maddest experience. It was just really exciting".

"It was so good to have your memories confirmed, because you know when you get older, you think 'did I remember that correctly'?"

"Living without Theresa had been living with a deep sorrow and longing," Janet said.

"So as soon as we connected again it was so joyous and a relief that I wasn't going to do any more life without her."

The sisters have video called every day since and Theresa came to see her sisters in person for the first time in half a century in August 2025.

Janet said she was so excited that she convinced staff at the railway station to let her on to the platform to see her sister's train arrive in Cardiff.

Theresa said: "I stepped off the train and she was just marching up the platform and it was just, 'oh my God, I just can't believe that it's you, that you're here'.

"We just found it so easy to talk to each other and so easy to get on."

Janet said she "couldn't stop smiling" and the two sisters began trying to catch up on lost time and piece together their life.

"Every day I'm plotting like when we're going to see each other next," Janet said.

Janet said when she talks about her mum's death, people often say "oh, well it was the '70s".

"Tell me what's changed in that story today? A woman dies because she wants to no longer be with her husband or partner.

"The reason that I speak out is to encourage other women to be brave. More needs to be done to protect women and girls."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We have declared violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a national emergency, and our new, ambitious VAWG Strategy is backed by more than £1bn of funding.

"As part of our mission to half VAWG within a decade, this government has introduced new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected areas and will relentlessly pursue the most dangerous perpetrators and give police and courts stronger powers to protect victims. We have also launched "Raneem's Law", embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms to improve the police response to victims of domestic abuse."