DURING the trial a huge rift divided the Abbott family, which saw the eldest daughters taking opposing sides in court. Tanya Abbott, 19, of Heatherhayes, Ipswich, was a key prosecution witness against her dad, Terry.

DURING the trial a huge rift divided the Abbott family, which saw the eldest daughters taking opposing sides in court.

Tanya Abbott, 19, of Heatherhayes, Ipswich, was a key prosecution witness against her dad, Terry.

She told how he arrived at her home and told her what he had done. She called him an idiot.

Her younger sister, Tassi, 18, of Speedwell Road, Ipswich spoke up in his defence. She told how he came round to her house after the attack, to say goodbye as he feared he would go to prison.

Both girls are mothers with children of their own, and are believed to live with their boyfriends, Robert Crawford and Paul Sherman respectively.

As the trial developed, Tassi sat for days outside the courtroom where Terry was being judged, while her boyfriend Paul Sherman sat in the public gallery with other members of Terry's family.

As a witness, she could only enter when her turn came to give evidence.

Tanya was rarely seen, except in the courtroom when she gave evidence.

Both sisters are known to look after their younger siblings Travis, 13, and Tara, eight, who regularly stay at their homes overnight. Tanya once lived in a mobile home in Spring Road.

She initially lived with her mum after the divorce in 1999, then hostels, then a flat in Heatherhayes.