A ditched lover raped his ex-girlfriend before murdering her in a “violent, sexual act of spite”, a jury heard. Serial love cheat Kyle Clifford, 26, murdered Louise Hunt after she ended their 18-month relationship after storming into her family home wielding a crossbow and knife. Kyle has admitted murdering 25-year-old Louise and her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother Carol, 61, in a bloodbath attack on their home in Bushey, Herts.
But he denies raping Louise, the daughter of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, whilst holding her hostage before killing. Opening the case at Cambridge Crown Court Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, told jurors it was “not in dispute” that Clifford murdered his former partner, her sister Hannah Hunt and their mother. And she told jurors it was also accepted that Clifford falsely imprisoned his ex-girlfriend and was unlawfully in possession of a knife and crossbow.
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The jury was told the killer had tricked his way into the home after claiming to Carol that wanted to give Louise her belongings back following their break up.
Ms Morgan said: “The only count for you to determine is that of rape. During the course of this prolonged incident of violence, the prosecution alleges that the defendant raped Louise Hunt.
“It was a violent, sexual act of spite, before he then killed her. And you will have to determine that allegation against him.
“He denies that he raped Louise Hunt during the course of these events on July 9 of last year.”
The KC said the deadly attack had been “carefully planned and executed” afterLouise dumped the former soldier last June.
She added: “The attack was carefully planned and executed, involving the deceit of Louise’s mother Carol Hunt, in order to gain access to the family home, followed by a brutal knife attack upon Carol Hunt.
“The defendant then waited for Louise Hunt to enter the property, before restraining, raping and ultimately murdering her with a crossbow.
“He then killed Louise’s sister Hannah Hunt with the same crossbow when she returned to the property after work.”
The court was told Clifford has “a nasty temperature” and was furious that he had been rejected by his former partner.
She said that Louise had “instigated the end of the relationship, supported by her friends and family”.
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“In the days that followed, the defendant tried to rekindle the relationship in various ways, all of which were rebuffed by Louise Hunt,” the barrister told Cambridge Crown Court.
“This rejection angered the defendant.
“He was angry at Louise, but also at the Hunt family generally, as he correctly assumed that friends and family members had advised Louise to end the relationship with him.”
Clifford killed his ex-girlfriend and her sister with a crossbow and stabbed their mother to death in what was branded an “act of extreme violence”.
Ms Morgan said Clifford’s “planning of that attack began shortly after Louise Hunt sent messages to him ending their relationship”.
He was furious despite having repeatedly cheated on dog groomer Louise with other women he worked with.
Ms Morgan told jurors the only count they must come to a verdict on is the rape charge against Louise.
She continued: "During the course of this prolonged incident, the prosecution alleges that the defendant raped Louise Hunt.
"It was a violent, sexual act of spite, before he then killed her. You will have to determine that allegation against him."
The court was told Louise's friends and family had grown concerned over her relationship with Clifford before the triple murder.
One friend said the dog groomer had confided in her about Clifford's “nasty temper” and revealed he had “behaved in an aggressive manner”.
While sister Hannah found the security worker to be “disrespectful, rude and arrogant” and hoped the relationship would come to an end, it was said.
Jurors heard the couple had gone to a wedding around two weeks before the attack that became a “catalyst” for the break up.
Clifford allegedly implied he had “slept with a number of people at the wedding, which upset Louise”.
He also made a series of “patronising comments” to her, including about her ability to use an oven, Ms Morgan said.
On June 23 last year - the day they got back - Louise messaged Clifford, saying: “We definitely need to have a conversation”.
He replied claiming he wasn't going to “take s**t” from her, adding: “I'll be damned if I ever beg someone to love me for who I am”.
Ms Morgan said Clifford had initially appeared accept a message from Louise in which she said she wanted to “take some space and walk away” from their relationship.
Louise said in a message to Clifford on June 26 last year: “I don’t know that in the future if we both do the work on ourselves this could be something amazing, but I just feel right now I owe it to myself to take some space and walk away for my own sanity and health.”
Louise Hunt continued in the message: “Thank you for the incredible time we’ve had this year, I hope you know how much I love you and still will for a long time.
“I never want there to be anything nasty between us ever. Take care of yourself always please.”
The prosecutor told Cambridge Crown Court that Clifford appeared to accept this position, and said in his reply: “Thank you for the clarity Louise so we can both start our healing process.
“I love you so much and will do for a long time.”
Clifford penned a message to himself on his phone in the days leading up to the attack, saying: “This is my decision to just be at peace.”
The jury at Cambridge Crown Court was told the note, updated between June 26 and July 7 last year, was addressed in part to friends and family of the defendant and in part to himself.
One part of the note, addressed to friends and family, read: “Please don’t think of me as throwing my life away – I have lived and I am grateful for everything and everyone who has been a part of it.”
It added: “I know you will have so many questions and wish you could have done something different to prevent this. However none of you have failed.”
In a message to himself, Clifford said: “To myself, I am so sorry I didn’t give myself a chance to move on past this to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I know you want to find peace and it’s a battle in your head right now. What’s different this time? I don’t want to live my life without her. Nothing I can think of can make me happy.”
Following the attacks, Clifford, who served in the military from 2019 for around three years, became the subject of a manhunt for a number of hours before he was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield, north London, after shooting himself in the chest with the crossbow.
The court heard how Louise’s friends and family “hoped that the relationship would come to an end” after they became concerned about the way Clifford treated her.
The jury was told Louise had shared with her friends that he had a “nasty temper” and that he behaved in an “aggressive manner”, with her sister Hannah deeming him to be “disrespectful, rude and arrogant”.
In the days that followed, the killer bombarded her with messages that were "rebuffed" by his ex, jurors were told.
As his resentment grew towards Louise and her family, who had advised her to end the relationship, he hatched the "carefully planned and executed" plot.
The court heard Clifford bought weapons including a ￡357 crossbow and six bolts and ￡89 on a "high-level butchering knife" from Amazon and even searched online to see what racing events were on to ensure John was out the house, it was said.
The security worker also wrote a note to his family saying he did not "want to live my life without her" and went to Toolstation to buy rope and B&Q for duct tape used to restrain Louise.
He then used "deceit" on Carol to gain access to the family home.
Ms Morgan said that in the days leading up to the attacks, Clifford had searched for how to purchase a crossbow and had accessed pornography, including for a video of former HMP Wandsworth prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, who admitted having sex with a prisoner last year.
The prosecutor said the defendant’s violent intentions were shown “through the use of weapons and his sexual preoccupations”.
Addressing the defendant’s motive to kill his victims, Ms Morgan said: “Louise instigated the end of the relationship, supported by her friends and family.
“In the days that followed, the message prompted the defendant to try to rekindle the relationship in various ways, all of which were rebuffed by Louise Hunt.
“This rejection angered the defendant.
“He was angry at Louise, but also at the Hunt family generally, as he correctly assumed that friends and family members had advised Louise to end the relationship with him.”
The prosecutor continued: “The attack was carefully planned and executed, involving the deceit of Louise’s mother Carol Hunt, in order to gain access to the family home, followed by a brutal knife attack upon Carol Hunt.
“The defendant then waited for Louise to enter the property, before restraining, raping and ultimately murdering her with a crossbow.
“He then killed Louise’s sister Hannah Hunt with the crossbow, when she returned to the property after work.”
The court was told Clifford's knife sported a 10-inch blade but has not been recovered by police.
The jury was told that CCTV had recorded Clifford arriving at the Hunt home and being met at the door by Carol Hunt.
After a brief discussion about his behaviour in the relationship in which he told her he was “getting therapy” Mrs Hunt told her future killer “I wish you well Kyle.”
Seconds after later after requesting a plastic bag to put some of his belongings in, Clifford said “Here we go” as he crossed the threshold and took his blade from his rucksack before launching launched his savage attack that lasted around three minutes.
Ms Morgan said a “long female scream” was followed by a shorter scream and then the sound of banging as Mrs Hunt fought for her life.
Clifford stabbed Carol Hunt to death with five blows to her chest as her daughter Louise worked in a dog grooming pod in the garden unaware of what was going on in the house.
The court was told Mrs Hunt would have died “rapidly” with a pathologist confirming her injuries were so severe she would have had only a “very short period of survival.”
Jurors heard Clifford then moved the mum's body a snug room and used various blankets to cover her up before Louise entered the home through a back door at 4.12pm after working at her dog grooming business in the garden.
She had previously been unaware and “dogs were dropped off in the period afterwards without anybody knowing what was going on in the property”.
The court was told a “faint scream” coulod be heard on audio at the Hunt family home signalling that Louise had discovered the Clifford and “indicated that she had been quickly in fear of what she saw”.
Louise “would later be found to be restrained at the ankles and at the wrists by taping” and it is also alleged she was gagged.
Whilst Louise was restrained Clifford trawled her phone to see who she had been messaging and then sent a text to her father John asking: “What time are you home?”
Mr Hunt, who was commentating on a race meet, replied: “Later I’m afraid. Everything ok sweetness?”
The prosecution allege that forensic evidence demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that while bound “penetrative sexual activity took place.”
Ms Morgan added: “All we know with certainty is she must have been in the snug room… near to Carol Hunt’s body facing away from the defendant at the time she was murdered by a crossbow bolt.”
At 6.50pm, a loud "whooshing" was heard, which was “the sound of the crossbow being fired to kill Louise Hunt”, Ms Morgan said.
Tragically at the same time, Hannah arrived back home and asked her mum “you don't know how to use your phone” - unaware both Carol and Louise had been murdered.
She then realised Clifford was inside the home and asked him: “Kyle I swear to god...what the f**k Kyle I swear to f***ing god”.
The court heard Hannah was then heard screaming "oh my god", before she yelled: “What the f**k is wrong with you, what is wrong with you?”
At 6.52pm, she bravely managed to message her partner Alex Klein telling him to “call police… immediately. To mine. Now. Kyle here. Police now. He’s tying us up.”
Two minutes later, another “whoosh” was heard, which jurors were told is believed to have been Clifford firing the crossbow at Hannah.
As he fled the home armed with the weapon, she was heard to utter “mum, Louise” before screaming “oh my god, no”.
Hannah called 999 at 6.57pm despite her horror injuries to tell officers that Clifford had attacked her, Louise and Carol.
When police arrived, they discovered Hannah collapsed in the doorway and Louise bound in the snug next to her mum's body.
A postmortem examination subsequently found Clifford’s DNA evidence indicating sexual activity with his victim. The jury was told Clifford will claim this was “a relic” of an encounter 16 days earlier whilst they were still together, but Ms Morgan said the prosecution’s medical evidence made this defence “implausible”. This included DNA being found on a sanitary product being worn by Louise at the time of her death.
Phil Bradley KC, defending Kyle Clifford, told Cambridge Crown Court that Clifford has admitted to the murders of Carol Hunt, Louise Hunt and Hannah Hunt on July 9 last year.
He said Clifford has also admitted to the false imprisonment of Louise Hunt and to possession of offensive weapons, a knife and a crossbow, used in the murders.
“Cool heads are obviously required just to assimilate that sort of information,” he said.
Mr Bradley told jurors that Clifford denies the rape of Louise Hunt.
He said that it is not disputed that his client's DNA was found.
Mr Bradley said the defence case is that Clifford and Louise Hunt “last had sexual intercourse on June 23, the day they returned from his friend’s wedding, therefore the central issue for you to decide is whether the scientific findings can be explained by consensual activity on June 23 or rape on July 9”.
Clifford, who is being tried in his absence, was said to hold racist and transphobic views and visited his brother Bradley Clifford in jail, where he is serving life for murder.
The jury was told Louise made a note to herself on her phone setting out the “reasons why she should not be sad about ending the relationship” with Clifford – including “racist comments”, and his views on transgender people.
The note, titled “When you’re sad, look!”, included that his family was a “mess”, his “road rage” and his use of “belittling” language.
It also included reference to his brother claiming Clifford did not find what he did “horrendous” and still saw him “every other week”.
Ms Morgan said the list also included how Clifford believed he had a higher IQ than Louise’s family and that he found his father’s and his brother’s violence “funny”.
The jury was told as police closed in on Clifford following the manhunt he shot himself with the crossbow, leaving him “paralysed from the waist down” and requiring a wheelchair.
He was critically ill in hospital but after surviving and being arrested he told police "sorry" and said "what I have done is atrocious".
Clifford, of Enfield, north London, has admitted three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment against Louise Hunt, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife.
He denies the rape of Louise Hunt on the same day, July 9.
The trial continues