ALISON Connolly was stabbed through the heart moments after witnesses heard attacker Charice Gassmann yell she was ‘going to get done for murder’, a court heard.

A teenager waiting in Whitbourne Avenue to catch a bus to the gym saw two girls storming across Cavendish Square just after 3.30pm on May 12, as one began asking for other people to ‘come be a witness’.

Charice, 19, and older sister Amberstasia, 23, both deny the charge of murder, while the former accepts manslaughter.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court today heard how paramedics had battled to save the life of mum-of-eight Alison, 49, after she had been stabbed through the heart at Evelyn House with a blade measuring at least eight inches.

Paramedic Camil Sliz was working for South Western Ambulance Service that day and was the first responder on the scene.

Alastair Malcolm, prosecuting, read his statement to the court.

“I had already been updated the patient had gone into possible cardiac arrest,and I followed a police officer to a small community garden and flats,” it said.

“There were people around shouting, ‘she’s there, she’s there’.

“One person indicated a small hallway with steps going up to some flats, and found a female laid at the bottom of the stairs.

“There were two white males standing next to her, and the first was holding a towel pressed to the left side of her chest with blood on it. He told me he had seen the patient collapse at the bottom of the stairs and called the ambulance.

“Once I had cut away her upper garments, I could see a wound to the left hand side of her chest under her armpit. I applied defibrillator pads to the patient’s chest, and my colleague started chest compressions, at which point the wound started to bleed.”

After being taken to Great Western Hospital, surgeons fought un-successfully to save Alison’s life and stem blood loss from a punctured lung and heart.

Pathologist Dr Russell Delaney told the court Alison had a number of small abrasions to her right eye and forehead, consistent with a head-butt to Charice, or being punched. 

The wound, he said, had penetrated her heart but Alison would have been able to act for some time afterwards before losing consciousness.

“I wasn’t able to identify the original wound because the surgeons had incorporated it into their incision,” he told the court.

“I could see there was a stab wound track passing through the left lung and then entering the heart. I could not identify any damage to the ribs, so I am of the opinion that it passed through muscle between two of the ribs, which were subsequently opened by the surgeons. It appeared to be roughly horizontal passing from the left side.

“It is my opinion the cause of death was the effects of the stab wound. The stab wound to the heart would have caused blood loss, causing blood to accumulate and prevent the pumping action to the heart.

“The amount of force required to make the penetrating injury would have been a minimum of mild to moderate. I cannot rule out more severe force.

“I would expect her to react to that and be in pain, but I would not expect her to collapse immediately. The survivability depends on the context in which the injuries are sustained. Had this been sustained on the doorstep of an accident and emergency department, she may have survived.

“In the vast majority of circumstances when this stab wound is sustained it would be fatal.”

Witnesses also described comments made by Charice and Amber as they marched towards the flat of Alison’s daughter to confront the older woman.

A teenage boy was waiting for a bus at Cavendish Square at around 4.30pm.

“Initially I saw the cut to one girl’s forehead, and she was walking across the road as if she was going to do something,” he told police in interview.

“There was another lady sitting on the wall by the church and they called her over.

“One of the ladies shouted over to the lady near the wall and said, ‘can you come with us to witness this’. That was when the girl with the cut said ‘we do not want witnesses for what I am going to do’.

“The blood was trickling down her chin, coming down her nose. The girl on the wall said, ‘are you all right’, and they started walking off. The girl with the cut then shouted, ‘I’m going to get done for murder, call the cops’. The girl on the wall started running to go with them.

“I think she was saying it to the people on the wall and the people who were around at the time, the public.”

Probed over the wording of what he heard by Adam Vaitilingham, representing Charice, the boy admitted: “I was giving a sense of what I thought she said.”

Tina Ponting was walking along Hartland Close after doing the school run just after 3.30pm when she saw Charice and a schoolgirl walking towards her.

“There was some screaming and shouting, and I looked up and saw a young lady with blood coming down her face, coming away from Cavendish Square,” she told the court.

“She was shouting, ‘how dare she do this to me, who does she think she is? I’m going to f****** kill her’.

“She was screaming and shouting hysterically. I have never seen anyone so hysterical.”

The trial continues.