A woman has told how she fulfilled a promise to her twin when she successfully fought to get her sex attacker jailed after she committed suicide. In a landmark legal case, Sharon Hennessy, 30, won justice for her sister Michelle who killed herself aged 27 in October 2012, a year after she was punched, kicked and sexually abused as she walked home from a night out. At the time of Michelle's death, police were pursuing a rape case against her attacker Sean Thackaberry, but they said they would close it because there was no chance of a conviction without her evidence. Michelle (left) and her twin Sharon, pictured together on their 21st birthday. Michelle committed suicide a year about being attacked after a night out. Sharon reveals how she fought to bring her sister's attacker to justice . Sean Thackaberry was jailed for five years in a landmark case over attacking Michelle Hennessy . But Sharon, of Kildare Town, Ireland, had promised her beloved twin she would not let her attacker walk free. The pledge was important to Sharon because after initially being charged with rape, Thackaberry was released on bail – and Michelle said she did not feel safe while he was on the streets. The family believe this was one of the reasons Michelle took her own life. Sharon reveals how Michelle - who was a fan of skydiving and nights out - changed after the attack. She said: ‘She was afraid and vulnerable and instead of travelling to far-flung corners like she had done, she spent her time sat by the fire, knitting. ‘I hardly ever saw her put on make-up and she never went out with friends, like she used to. ‘She’d been so proud of her girly locks and her sense of fashion, but afterwards she didn’t care. ‘We were furious that Thackaberry hadn’t been locked up and whenever Michelle left the house, his supporters would harass her. They sent her abusive messages online too, calling her a liar. ‘The taunts and threats ground her down until she didn’t feel human anymore.’ In October 2012 Michelle committed suicide at home. Her sister recalled finding out – and desperately trying to reach her twin’s body. She said: ‘I remember collapsing onto the stairs and screaming from the bottom of my belly. ‘I screamed for all the pain and emotion that my twin sister was never able to scream. I screamed for the devastation she buried inside her, until it slowly destroyed every inch of her being. ‘I screamed for the anger she felt at not being protected from the monster who stole her life. It was devastating.’ Michelle (left) and Sharon, pictured at three years old, had always been close and Sharon vowed to see her sister's attacker jailed, hiring a top lawyer and pestering police to keep the case open . Sharon, pictured at her 30th birthday (left) along with a tribute to her sister at the event (right) Michelle (right) and Sharon pictured together on their 27th birthday . Sharon was heartbroken when a lawyer told her family the ongoing case against Thackaberry would ‘never see the light of day’ because of her sister’s death. ‘It felt like the final nail in Michelle’s coffin,’ she said. ‘I felt like that monster was going to win – again.’ So she hired a top lawyer and repeatedly pestered the police for the case to be pursued – and the trial went ahead. In November 2013 Thackaberry, then 20, of Kildare Town, Ireland, appeared at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court where he admitted aggravated sexual assault. The court was told the former boxer had violently assaulted Michelle as he walked her home, dragging her onto wasteland around 250m from her home. Michelle pictured after skydiving in Spain. Her sister Sharon reveals how Michelle changed after the attack and wouldn't leave the house . Michelle - pictured (left) skydiving in Spain, and (right) on a night out afterwards - committed suicide a year after she was attacked by Sean Thackaberry after a night out . Remembering how Michelle felt after being attacked, her sister said: ‘She told me, “I thought I was going to die”.’ Sharon told how Thackaberry winked at her as he was jailed for five years at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court. Her sister said: ‘I’d made my sister that promise. ‘The lawyer said there hadn’t been a case in Irish history like Michelle’s, where someone was convicted after the victim had died. But we wouldn’t give up. ‘Michelle was dead because of what that man did to her. ‘We had hoped he would be prosecuted for rape, but it meant so much that Thackaberry had finally admitted what he’d done. ‘His sentence wasn’t long enough for what he’d done, but we were so relieved that we finally had justice for Michelle.’ She said she was now fighting for other victims. ‘They weren’t even going to look at her case and didn’t believe Michelle deserved justice,’ she said. ‘Michelle’s case set a precedent for future court cases. Hopefully there won’t be other victims like Michelle. But if there is, they won’t just be forgotten, like Michelle threatened to be. ‘People think it’s bad to talk about these things but, in fact, it’s one of the most important things in the world. ‘Because it’s only by talking about them that more women who feel lost like Michelle will go and get help.’ In the year after her sister's death, Sharon has helped raise more than €30,000 (£21,000) for suicide awareness.
Michelle Hennessy killed herself year after attack by Sean Thackaberry . Sharon won legal landmark case of conviction without evidence from twin . Hired lawyer, pestered police for case to be pursued and trial went ahead . Thackaberry was jailed for five years at Dublin Crown Court .