Triple killer Kyle Clifford was told hell will “roll the red carpet out for you” as the devastated family of his murder victims delivered emotional statements at his sentencing hearing.
BBC racing commentator John Hunt, the husband of 61-year-old Carol Hunt and the father of Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, alongside his surviving daughter Amy Hunt and Hannah’s boyfriend Alex Klein, paid tribute to their loved ones before Clifford was handed a whole-life order.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what all three said in their statements:
John Hunt
John Hunt held back tears throughout his emotional statement to the court on Tuesday, as he told Clifford: “The screams of hell, Kyle. I can hear them faintly now. They’re going to roll the red carpet out for you.”
He described the killer as “callous, cowardly and vindictive” and said he had intended to direct his statement at the defendant “eye to eye” before he was handed a whole-life order.
Mr Hunt said: “When I was first invited to provide a victim impact statement, I initially misunderstood its purpose. Do I really need to detail the impact of having three-quarters of my family murdered?
“But then I realised that this was my final opportunity to say what I wanted to say, specifically to you, Kyle, words that will also be directed to your family, who will carry guilt forwards with them for the rest of their lives.
“They knew about the weapons, they knew.”
He continued: “I am so proud of all my girls.
“Unlike you, Kyle, at every step of their lives, they made the correct choices to improve themselves as people.
“Louise, she enjoyed more success and fulfilment in one morning than you achieved in your entire miserable life.”
John Hunt described Clifford as a “psychopath” as he continued his victim impact statement.
Addressing the murder of his wife, Carol, Mr Hunt said: “Carol still displayed compassion right up until the moment she answered the door to you on July 9.
“Do you remember her kindness, Kyle? How she urged you to get some relationship help and guidance for fear that you would never be able to sustain a lasting relationship?
“You calmly accepted that advice on the doorstep and then literally seconds later, savagely stabbed her eight times and ended her life.
“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.”
Mr Hunt said his daughter Louise left Clifford after saying “enough is enough”.
“I hope women round the world will take Louise’s bravery as a shining beacon for their lives,” he said.
“If you feel enough is enough, then it is.”
He continued: “What about me? The impact of what you have done will be taken to my grave.
“But on the way there, I want you to know that I stand strong before you today as you, Kyle, are consigned to a fate far greater than death.
“I can draw on the love and strength that I still (have) from my girls in every moment of every day.”
Mr Hunt added: “Whilst I am badly damaged, 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.”
Court artist sketch of Amy Hunt giving her victim impact statement (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Amy Hunt
Amy Hunt called Clifford a “monster” and said what he did “to my baby sister is nothing short of demonic”.
She broke down and wept part way through her victim impact statement.
Amy said that Clifford’s “monstrous, selfish actions” had devastated the loved ones of the three victims and told the killer he had “decided your own fragile ego and pride were more important”.
“You planned to take the lives of three women who have never done anything to hurt you and for what? You got dumped,” she said.
Amy continued: “That day, and every day leading up to it, Kyle, you had a choice and you chose to inflict violence on a horrific scale, all for your own selfish and sadistic aims.
“That day, my mum, Hannah and Louise were all simply living their lives, getting on with their day in the home working or returning to their home after work.
“Their home is a place that was and should have continued to be safe for them and you made it the most unsafe place in the world for those few hours – you are a monster.”
She went on: “That day, Kyle, you ripped a mother away from her daughters, a wife away from her husband, sisters away from one another, daughters away from their father, much adored friends away from their friends … alongside countless other losses formed from your entirely self-absorbed actions.
“For dad and I, you have callously and coldly taken not one, not two, but the three most important people in our lives outside of each other.
“You have destroyed generations that always did, and were set to, enjoy wonderful, peaceful lives together.
“My mother will never see any of her daughters get married.
“Mum and dad will not be able to grow old and enjoy retirement together, my sisters will never be the mothers they dreamed of being or build their own homes, and I will never be an auntie to their children, nor dad a granddad to their children.”
Towards the end of her statement, she added: “It is difficult to think of a more devastating reality than the one you have created, Kyle – though I imagine that these facts mean nothing to you.
“You violently took my mother and sisters from me, and you violently killed almost all of my mum and dad’s children.
“As a son to a mother, a brother to a sister … I will never understand how you felt and feel nothing about the hideous act – but I suppose that is what separates you from us.
“Kyle, plainly the Hunt family are human and you are not.”
Alex Klein
Hannah Hunt’s partner, Alex Klein, said his girlfriend could “only be described as an angel”.
Reading his victim impact statement to the court he said: “Hannah can only be described as an angel.
“She would never lay a finger on anyone.”
He added: “Hannah completed my life. We worked so hard to build a future together and achieve our goals and all I wanted was to share that with her.
“She was my world, the perfect woman, she supported me and understood me in every way.”
Addressing the killer, Mr Klein continued: “Kyle, the world knows how pathetic you are, and that my Hannah stopped you in your tracks.
“I have no sympathy for what may happen to you and your family in the future.
“You are nothing to me, and I have nothing but disgust for you.
“You are a weak and insecure little boy who compulsively lied … always looking for the easy way out rather than facing the truth.
“You are a coward. You simply were not good enough for an angel like Louise.
“Your soul will suffer for eternity.”