By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-11 17:21:20 | Updated at 2025-03-12 06:09:12
13 hours ago
A former British soldier who used a crossbow and a knife to murder his ex-girlfriend, her sister and their mother at their family home north of London was sentenced on Tuesday to a whole-life order, meaning that he would never be released from prison.
Kyle Clifford, 26, had pleaded guilty in January to murdering Louise Hunt, 25, and her 28-year-old sister Hannah Hunt with a crossbow and their mother, Carol Hunt, 61, with a knife on July 9, 2024. He was convicted of three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons.
He was also found guilty of raping Louise during the “carefully planned” attack on the family.
Sentencing Clifford, Justice Joel Bennathan said he was “a jealous man soaked in self-pity – a man who holds women in utter contempt.”
Clifford refused to turn up for the sentencing.
Prosecutors said he planned the murders for days, ordering the crossbow, knife, an air pistol and other items after becoming enraged when an increasingly concerned Louise ended their 18-month relationship.
