LONDON: Michaela Hart screamed for aid as she sank to her knees in her yard, her limbs withering. Tara Reeves, 35, had recently died, and her “obsessed boyfriend” was to blame, she was told.

Marlon McIntosh, 35, was approached by Tara’s adolescent son Thomas* moments after fatally stabbing her in her Woolwich flat in October 2008, and turned the knife on himself.

The 17-year-old was then charged of murdering McIntosh in a horrible twist.

Although he was finally cleared, the ordeal left a lasting impression on Michaela, who refused to leave her home owing to panic episodes and terrible anxiety.

She was only able to begin to recuperate after getting Unconscious Mind Therapy (UMT) years later.

Michaela’s fortitude was put to the test six months ago when she came across a teenage guy who was bleeding to death from a knife wound.

She was able to overcome her fear and save his life.

Michaela, 47, from Chelmsford, Essex, told The Sun: “When my brother called to tell me Tara was dead… I was in utter denial.

“When I finally picked up the phone, he managed to get through to me. I remember running into the back garden screaming, ‘Someone help me!’ My neighbour jumped the fence and all I could say was, ‘She’s dead. She’s dead’.

“I just lost it. Then the trauma was worse when I had to identify her body and they told me everything that happened.

“Over the next five years I started suffering really badly with panic attacks and found it difficult to leave the house without having them.

“They were terrifying, I thought I was dying and called an ambulance for one. It was like I was losing control of my mind.

“Anything would trigger them but especially documentaries with a killer boyfriend. I didn’t want to watch them, but felt I had to because of my sister.”

‘Obsessed’ ex bought £2 knife

After their mother Patricia, 56, died in 2007, Michaela and Tara Reeves were always “really close” and supported one other.

Tara Reeves was assassinated less than a year later. While Michaela never met McIntosh, she heard that during their five-month engagement, he was “obsessed” with Tara and “worshipped the ground she walked on.”

They met at the Woolwich cafe where she worked, and she finally accepted to a date after he asked her out “for ages.”

Michaela explained: “My sister told me she had met someone who was really nice and that he wore his heart on his sleeve. They were talking about moving in together.

“After she died, a friend told me they used to argue and on her birthday he pushed her out of a moving car following a row. After that she didn’t want to see him.”

Because McIntosh was caught on CCTV buying a £2 kitchen knife from Wilkinsons before heading to Tara’s flat, Michaela believes the murder was “clearly premeditated.”

After an argument, he stabbed her in the neck, severing her jugular and killing her instantaneously. He also repeatedly sliced her stomach.

Tara’s kid, who was in his room at the time, heard screaming and ran down with a bat, believing McIntosh was going to beat his mother.

She explained: “He walked out to see blood up the mirrors and saw Tara was dead. Thomas ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife to defend himself.

“He could hear Marlon saying, ‘I’m sorry Tara, I’m sorry,’ and when he saw Thomas, he walked towards with the knife.

“Marlon stopped and stabbed himself in the neck and head eight times. It was horrendous, Thomas had just seen his dead mother and now Marlon killing himself too.

“He stood there frozen, thinking ‘I hope you die’. Moments later he put the knife back in the drawer and ran away scared.”

Son accused of a revenge attack

Because Thomas advised police to hunt for the missing murder weapon behind a memorial shrine to his grandmother, authorities first assumed Thomas was responsible for McIntosh’s death.

When none of his fingerprints were found on the knife and the killer’s wounds showed he had stabbed himself, he was cleared.

Michaela spiralled after losing her mother and sister within a year, as well as a series of “toxic relationships” with “aggressive partners.”

“I was too scared to leave the house, even to walk the dogs. I was scared to go to the supermarket and couldn’t sleep,” she said.

Michaela received Unconscious Mind Therapy from Robert Hisse in 2017, which assisted her in dealing with the trauma.

“Thinking about what happened,” comprehending the anguish, and adopting coping methods, she feels, helped her overcome her anxiety issues.

“I still talk to Robert now, it feels like I’m going to cry sometimes but I’m dealing with it rather than keeping it packed away. I’m so much better than I have been before,” Michaela said.

Harrowing panic attacks

Six months ago, Michaela’s newfound strength was put to the test when she witnessed a group of teens fighting.

She recalled: “I saw one lad hit the other and was worried. I went up to the boy to see if he was ok and he looked really grey. He had been stabbed. Seconds later he fell to the ground.

“I had to keep him and his younger brother calm until the ambulance arrived.

“It was horrendous but I felt like I helped him – something I couldn’t do for my sister. I didn’t think I could ever see a stab wound after what she went through but I was calm and saved his life.”

After what occurred to Tara Reeves, the 16-year-old survived and thanked her, calling her a hero.

Michaela said: “It was a lot to deal with as I don’t think I’d grieved for my mum before my sister passed and that all happened in the space of a year.

“I hate being called brave and a survivor, because I had to survive, I had no choice.”

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