Kyle Clifford pleads guilty to murders of racing commentator's wife and daughters

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering the wife and two daughters of racing commentator John Hunt in a crossbow attack.

Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, was accused of stabbing Carol Hunt, 61, to death and fatally shooting Louise, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, with a crossbow at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on 9 July last year.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of an offensive weapon, alongside the murder charges. He denied one count of rape and will face a trial for this charge later in the year.

Clifford had tied the arms and ankles of his former partner, Louise, with duct tape before he shot her through the chest with a crossbow bolt.

Her sister, Hannah, was found in the main doorway of the house with a crossbow bolt to the chest. She was still alive when police arrived at the property, having managed to call the emergency services, telling officers she feared she was going to die.

Their mother, Carol, sustained significant stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso after Clifford attacked her with a 10in butcher's knife.

Following the deaths, Sky Sports and BBC racing commentator Mr Hunt said the devastation he and his surviving daughter Amy feel "cannot be put into words".

Clifford, a former member of the military, was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield. He had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow.

Following the attacks, the Home Office said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was urgently considering whether tougher crossbow laws were needed. But in the King's Speech, which took place just days later, no proposal for action on the weapon was mentioned.

The previous government looked at bringing in firearms licensing-style rules in the wake of an attempt to kill the late Queen with a crossbow.

Read more: What the law says on crossbows

There is currently no registration system for owning a crossbow, but it is illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or own one, and carrying one in public without reasonable excuse can be punished by up to four years in prison.

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