If you haven’t read the statement from the husband and father of the three victims of the so-called ‘Crossbow Killer’ that was given in court on the day of his sentencing, you need to. Racked with emotional turmoil and dripping with carefully chosen but unyielding condemnation, racing commentator John Hunt spared nothing in his withering assessment of the misogynistic, scheming murderer who robbed him of his cherished wife and two daughters. Written at any time, it would be powerfully compelling. But to have composed it in the wake of such unimaginable grief is nothing short of masterful. Journalists covering the story in court reported that long-serving police officers held back tears as the details of the murders were spelt out. Having been jilted by Louise Hunt, 25, Kyle Clifford tricked his way into the family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, by telling her mother Carol, 61, he was returning some of her daughter’s possessions.
As soon as she let him in and turned her back, he fatally stabbed her. Then, armed with rope, duct tape and a crossbow, he laid in wait for his former girlfriend to enter the house. When she did, she was tied up by Clifford, 26, and repeatedly raped. When her sister Hannah, 28, walked in on this house of horrors, Clifford killed Louise by firing a crossbow bolt into her, and then killed her sister in the same way. The one remaining sister Amy, 31, was not at the home and Mr Hunt was away working. Later, cornered by armed police, Clifford tried to kill himself using the crossbow yet again but succeeded only in paralysing himself from the waist down.
The father’s statement, which he read at Cambridge Crown Court as Clifford was sentenced to three whole-life tariffs meaning he is sure to die behind bars, began:”I so wanted to deliver these words, eye to eye with Kyle. I will continue to act as if I am doing so.”
But why should this cowardly killer be allowed to choose whether or not he hears the searing testimony of this grieving husband and father?
At the court Mr. Justice Joel Bennathan said he had been asked if he wanted the murderer taken to the video room at Belmarsh prison, but decided against it as he didn’t want Clifford “to potentially disrupt these proceedings.”
With respect, that concern can be eased with the flick of a switch to silence any audio, or even video from the room.
It is deeply concerning that Clifford’s refusal to face up to his personal judgment day seems to be a growing trend among our worst offenders, as baby killer Lucy Letby, Southport murderer Axel Rudakabana and Thomas Cashman, who shot dead a nine-year-old girl on Merseyside, were all also given the chance to dodge the moment they were sentenced to spend what is likely to be the rest of their miserable lives behind bars.
Clifford needed to hear the last part of Mr. Hunt’s address: “Kyle, just remember one thing: whatever sentence you are about to receive, whatever misery lies ahead for you, remember on your dying day there will be no release for you, Kyle. The screams of hell, Kyle. I can hear them faintly now. They’re going to roll the red carpet out for you.”
Burdened with immeasurable grief, he had every right to stare into this vile individual’s face as his words landed.
