There are few crimes as heinous as those committed by Kyle Clifford. The 26-year old former soldier raped and murdered his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, killed her sister Hannah, 28, and fatally stabbed their mother, Carol, 61 during a four-hour attack at the Hunt family home last July.
Clifford will die in prison. But he refused to leave his cell to hear his whole-life sentence handed down at Cambridge Crown Court. As a result, Clifford was not present to listen to the devastatingly emotional victim witness statement, in which John Hunt – father and husband of the victims – said that he could hear the “screams of hell” awaiting the killer as retribution for what he had done.
If Clifford had been there, perhaps Hunt might have had some sense of justice. As other relatives of the victims wept, he told the court: “I so wish to deliver these words to Kyle and I’ll continue to do so as if I was doing that”.
Also in court to describe the pain she had suffered as a result of Clifford’s atrocious crimes was the eldest and surviving daughter, Amy. She condemned the killer for his “monstrous, selfish actions”, telling him he was a misogynist, but was unable to get through her own statement before breaking down.
While Clifford has received the harshest sentence that it is possible for a judge in the UK to hand down, this man has still evaded having to face up to those who have suffered the most from what he did.
The law must change, so that courts have the power to order those convicted of the most serious crimes to be in court to witness the pain of their victims, and the terrible toll it has taken on the families.
Keir Starmer has vowed to change the law to force criminals into the dock. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today that: ‘The government is committed to changing the law so that courts have the power to order the most serious offenders to attend their sentencing hearings.’
Unfortunately, even if Starmer does deliver on this promise, it will come too late for the Hunt family.
Just like every other violent criminal who refuses to hear what a terrible toll their crimes have taken on others, Clifford is a coward. And cowards – those who hide away from their own crimes, who refuse to see the pain in the eyes of the victims – are dangerous. They protect themselves and their own feelings over and above the feelings of those whose lives they have devastated. The fact that Clifford has refused to hear the pain he caused with his dreadful, unforgivable actions is as revealing of the type of man he is as the crimes themselves; he is a sadistic sociopath.
Clifford has, rightly, been given a whole life order, which means he will never be free. And nor will John and Hannah Hunt.
But the government must ensure that cowards like Clifford no longer get the opportunity to avoid having to look their victims in the eye.
Open justice, where the process in any court room is accessible to the public, is especially important as the loved ones of victims read out victim impact statements in court, and judges pass their sentences.
The impact of male violence on women and girls, including in its most serious forms of rape and murder, are the most misunderstood crimes on the planet. Victim-blaming is ever prevalent, and the public needs to be educated in order to properly appreciate the devastating effects of these crimes. Sometimes – not often but occasionally – the men responsible for carrying out such heinous acts do recognise how dreadful their crimes were, and this can lead to a change in their behaviour.
This is why it is so important for perpetrators to be present in court, so that victims get a chance to hold them to account, albeit only for that brief moment they are standing in the dock.
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