Kyle Clifford was described by a judge as a “jealous man soaked in self pity, who holds women in utter contempt” when he was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday
BBC star John Hunt has praised his brave daughter for saving him from being Kyle Clifford’s fourth victim.
Tragic Hannah Hunt phoned 999 while she fought for her life and Mr Hunt, a horse racing commentator, told a courtroom on Tuesday he believes this “amazing physical and mental strength” saved his life.
Clifford, 26, subjected the family to a terrifying five-hour ordeal in which he raped his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, before killing her with a crossbow at her family home. That same day – on July 9, 2024 – he fatally stabbed her mother Carol, 61, eight times and then used a crossbow to shoot dead 28-year-old Hannah at the property in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
He was handed a whole-life order on Tuesday afterr a judge described the former soldier as a “jealous man soaked in self pity, who holds women in utter contempt”.
Brave Hannah called 999 during the attacks and was still alive when police arrived but later died from her wounds. She was praised by Mr Hunt, who spoke at the sentencing hearing at Cambridge Crown Court.
The grieving father said: “I am absolutely determined to see what my future is surrounded by so many amazing people, and the chance to do that, I firmly believe, has been gifted to me by my incredible Hansie [Hannah Hunt].
“I really believe that had she not managed to show such amazing physical and mental strength in raising the alarm after you, Kyle, fatally injured her, that I would have been your fourth victim that day. Hannah handed me a second chance, one that she worked so hard to achieve for me.”
Sentencing the killer, Mr Justice Joel Bennathan said: “The evidence I’ve heard shows you to be a jealous man, soaked in self-pity. A man who holds women in utter contempt. This is no occasion to subject family and friends of your victims to any delay or suspense.
“I therefore make clear at once that for each of these three murders, the sentence will be one of life imprisonment with a whole-life order. That means a sentence from which you will never be released.”
Relatives in the courtroom were in tears as Mr Hunt told how “proud” he was of “all of his girls” after they were brutally murdered by Clifford. The cowardly thug, though, refused to leave his cell to attend court. It meant Mr Hunt and other distraught relatives did not get the chance to look the killer in the eye on Tuesday.
But legal expert James Pipe, from freegrantsforfelons.org, told the Mirror Clifford’s grim future in prison “will be shaped by the severity of his crimes, his disability and the high-profile nature of his case”. He said: “As a convicted triple murderer, he will likely serve his sentence in a maximum-security facility, where his every movement will be monitored.”
