MURDER TRIAL: A YEAR of torture for the Trowbridge family of tragic Lizzie Cooper has come to an end as her "sadistic killers" were jailed for life this week.

Grieving sister Teresa Cooper said she could never forgive brothers Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour for murdering the much-loved mother-of-two in such a macabre and brutal fashion.

Miss Cooper, 28, of Woolpack Meadows, said she had been through 12 months of torment waiting for 23-year-old Lizzie's killers to get the justice they deserved.

Miss Cooper lives just yards from what was her sister's home in Yarn Terrace and she said her close-knit family, including Lizzie's mother Pearl, 59, and two brothers Andy, 35, and David, 20, had been stunned by the brutality of her death.

Lizzie was stabbed and slashed 26 times by the brothers in a savage and unprovoked attack.

As she spoke to the Wiltshire Times just five days before the first anniversary of the murder, she said: "I'm so glad they have been found guilty, but no matter what sentence they get it will never be justice to us and it will never bring Lizzie back. I hate them it is pure hatred. They have taken my sister, my niece's mother, my mother's daughter. What else can you feel but hatred?

"All the old wounds are opened up and it is like going through it all again. At the trial I kept having flashbacks in my mind of when we went to identify her body. I cried every day in court when they mentioned the wounds she suffered. They didn't just stab her they butchered her. She did not deserve to die like that.

"When Tim Seviour stood on the stand and cried I was physically shaking with anger it was a frenzied attack and once they started there was no stopping them."

"I still shout at Lizzie's photo asking her why didn't she run but I have also felt guilty for not being there to protect her."

As she tends Lizzie's grave in The Down Cemetery every day, she is unable to escape the painful memories of last year the gruesome events of May 6 are now permanently etched in her memory.

"I was at home playing cards with my partner Nick when my brother David came to the door and he said Lizzie had been stabbed.

"My mum lives opposite Kevin York's house and when I got there she was hysterical. We knew Lizzie was inside but had no idea what had happened.

"There were so many ambulances and police cars. When we were told she had been stabbed to death I was physically sick. It was a numbness I will never forget. I was in a complete state of shock I kept saying 'She's dead, she's dead.'

"It is so unreal and we had hundreds of cards and visitors but I couldn't tell you much about what happened after.

"I stayed in for four months and cried every day."

Pinpointing attack victim Kevin York as the reason behind the brothers' savage attack, Miss Cooper said she finds it hard not to feel anger and resentment towards him.

"There is a side of me that thinks he is the cause because whatever he says you don't go and wait in someone's house with knives for two hours unless you have done something seriously wrong to them.

"I understand why he ran from the house because of the fear but I personally feel he could have done more to help her. I would have protected her if I was there. Now I cannot even go into the street where my mum lives and where I grew up."

Since growing up on the Longfield estate, the Cooper family has always stayed in close touch. Miss Cooper said she and her sister were like best friends sharing secrets, caring for each other's children and looking out for one another.

As they never spent more than one day apart, a gaping hole had been left after Lizzie's death, she said.

Lizzie's two young daughters, aged ten and seven, are now living with their father, Stuart Hartley, in Melksham. Miss Cooper said she hoped her nieces would help keep Lizzie's cherished memory alive.

She said: "I will never let them forget her. The girls have memories of her and ask about her all the time.

"Me and Lizzie saw each other every day. I took her children and my children to school and she would collect them. I would be always popping round for a tea or coffee and we would confide in each other.

"My mum Pearl saw her at least five times every day. I will always remember her as a bubbly and fun person. She was a brilliant mother, her girls were always clean and healthy."

Speaking of how the trauma of last year has affected her family, Miss Cooper said her two sons Karl, ten, and Tristan, seven, have needed counselling since the death of their aunt.

As she held the family together in the months after the murder, the heartbroken mother said she could not have coped if it had not been for the help of police family liaison officer Julie Corbett.

She said: "I don't know how we would have managed. She has been a diamond and was there for all of us 24 hours a day. I can't thank her enough for what she has done for us during this tragic time. The police and prosecution barristers were excellent and we are all so glad Jason and Tim are behind bars."