LONDON: A former soldier who murdered three women and raped one of them in a crossbow and stabbing attack was handed a whole-life prison sentence at a UK court on Tuesday.

Kyle Clifford, 26, was imprisoned for life for each of the three “brutal and cowardly” murders of Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of a BBC sports commentator, and their two daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.

Judge Joel Bennathan handed down the sentence in Clifford’s absence after he refused to attend the hearing at Cambridge Crown Court in east England. “The evidence I have heard shows you to be a jealous man soaked in self-pity — a man who holds women in utter contempt,” Bennathan said.

Clifford had pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment, and two of possessing offensive weapons. He was last week found guilty of raping Louise Hunt, his ex-girlfriend who the court was told he was “enraged” with after she broke up with him.

Clifford planned the July 2024 attack on the three women at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, for days, including by tracking the movements of horseracing commentator John Hunt.

The court was told that after Clifford stabbed Carol Hunt to death, he “lay in wait” for an hour for Louise, before binding her up, raping and then killing her with a crossbow. He then killed Hannah when she returned home from work.

Ahead of the sentencing, John Hunt said he had wanted to deliver his victim impact statement “eye to eye with Kyle”. “When I challenged myself about how you were able to deceive us all, I simply say that you are a psychopath who, for the duration of your time together with Louise, was able to disguise yourself as an ordinary human being,” John Hunt told the court.

“I hope women round the world will take Louise’s bravery as a shining beacon for their lives,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025