Crossbow killer Kyle Clifford is the latest murderer to stay put in his cell while the grieving loved ones of his victims bravely read out their impact statements in court.
The cowardly rapist, 26, refused to attend his hearing yesterday, when he was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole. Clifford was found guilty of raping and murdering his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, and killing her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother Carol, 61, at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last July.
Clifford joins the list of cowards, including Lucy Letby and the murderers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel and law student Zara Aleena, who have deprived mourning families of the chance to look them in the eyes.
The Mirror launched the Face Justice campaign in 2023 calling for an urgent change in the law to force offenders to attend their sentencing hearings. Former PM Rishi Sunak promised to address the issue but legislation was abandoned. Last year, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowed to restore “faith that justice will be delivered”.
Ms Mahmood commited to change the law to put “victims’ needs at the heart of the system” by ensuring criminals who have “destroyed their lives” face justice. She said: “I applaud The Mirror for its tireless campaign to right this wrong, and I pay tribute to the victims and families who have spoken out with such courage.”
Here, we share the faces of shameful killers who have sickeningly refused to leave their prison cells to face the gravity of their crimes in court…
Kyle Clifford
Triple killer Clifford spent 13 days plotting how to kill his ex Louise and her beloved family after she bravely ended their 18-month relationship. He tricked her mother Carol, the wife of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, to let him into the family home, and once inside, he brutally stabbed her to death eight times with a 10in butcher’s knife.
He waited for Louise to return home from work before tying her up, raping her and shooting her with a crossbow. He then shot her sister Hannah. In a final insult to the Hunt family, Clifford refused to attend his sentencing in person yesterday. Mr Justice Joel Bennathan said: “If the defendant lacks the courage to face today, so be it.”
John, the father and husband of the three victims, described Clifford as “callous, cowardly and vindictive” and was visibly emotional as he read his victim statement to the court. He said: “I so wanted to deliver these words, eye to eye with Kyle. I will continue to act as if I am doing so.”
Brave John shared how proud he was of his girls, and how impossible life felt after losing three-quarters of his family. He went on to say “the screams of hell” would be waiting for Clifford, who he described as a psychopath who disguised himself as an ordinary human being, adding: “They’re going to roll the red carpet out for you.”
Axel Rudakubana
Last month, Southport killer Axel Rudakubana cowardly refused to leave his cell for a court hearing which made a correction to his life sentence. The twisted teenager, then 17, rampaged through a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport with a kitchen knife, killing Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
He is currently serving a minimum term of 52 years for the murder and attempted murder of innocent children and their teachers in July 2024. In February, he was due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court via link from HMP Belmarsh for a mention hearing, but shamefully refused to leave his cell to attend court or to speak to his legal team.
It’s not the first time the attacker has caused further offence to the victims’ families since his arrest by refusing to participate in the judicial system. He turned his sentencing hearing into a circus after he started shouting from the dock, leaving the judge no other option than to remove him from the courtroom.
As he was jailed, Mr Justice Goose said: “During the sentence hearing, Axel Rudakubana was determined to disrupt the proceedings so he would not have to face the victims of his crimes and face justice.” Before he passed sentence, the judge said: “I consider it is likely at this time that he will never be released.”
Lucy Letby
Serial killer Lucy Letby was branded “evil” and a “coward” after dodging her own sentencing for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others in August 2023. The former NHS nurse, 34, was handed her 15th whole-life term last year for attempting to murder a baby girl at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she worked.
Letby, one of the most prolific child killers in modern British history, faces the rest of her life behind bars after being handed a whole-life order. More than a dozen relatives of Letby’s grieving victims sat in the public gallery for her hearing, but the killer and her parents, John and Susan, who had been present for the trial, were absent. In addition to refusing to appear in court, Letby said she would not follow the hearing via video link from prison.
The court heard a statement from the mother of Child A, who was murdered by Letby, and Child B, who she attempted to kill, which read: “You thought it was your right to play God with our children’s lives.” She said: “Maybe you thought by doing this you would be remembered forever but I want you to know my family will never think of you again. From this day you are nothing.”
The mother of Child E said: “Even in these final days of the trial she has tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is. We have attended court day in and day out, yet she decides she has had enough, and stays in her cell, just one final act of wickedness from a coward.”
Thomas Cashman
Vile thug Thomas Cashman was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 42 years after murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in April 2023, but he refused to show his face in court. Cashman, who was found guilty of firing a gun into Olivia’s home during an attempt to kill convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee, claimed the case had become a ‘circus’ after he allegedly heard prosecutors singing We Are The Champions.
Describing Cashman’s decision to miss sentencing, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: “I would describe him as a coward, despicable.” The presiding judge Amanda Yip said Cashman’s choice to cower from the dock and refuse to be sentenced in front of Olivia’s grieving mother, Cheryl Korbel, was “disrespectful to the family of the deceased”.
The judge described Olivia as a “lovely little girl” and said: “The killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel is an offence that shocked not only the city of Liverpool, but the nation. Olivia’s name is likely to be remembered for many years. She should not be remembered only for her dreadful last moments. Her family have spoken today of Olivia in life and of the hopes and dreams for her future, which were so cruelly snatched away.”
Jordan McSweeney
Law graduate Zara Aleena, 35, was sexually assaulted and beaten to death by Jordan McSweeney as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in June 2022. The attack lasted nine minutes and she sustained 46 injuries. CCTV showed McSweeney, 30, a musclebound fairground worker with a record of 69 offences, targeting five other women that night before attacking her.
Twisted McSweeney refused to attend his trial and the judge who jailed him for 39 years in December 2022 called him a “deeply violent man” who had no remorse. The coward refused to attend the hearing because he didn’t “want to relive” the events. McSweeney ambushed Zara and dragged her into a driveway, repeatedly stamped and kicked her body, resulting in serious head injuries.
Koci Selamaj
Sexual predator Koci Selamaj, 37, was found guilty of murdering primary school teacher Sabina Nessa in a park in south east London in 2021. On the day of Sabina’s murder, Selamaj booked into a Sussex hotel where his estranged wife worked and tried to persuade her to have sex with him, but she rejected him.
He drove 70 miles to London and hid in bushes in a park, waiting for a random target. Sabina was walking through the park to meet a friend at a pub on September 17. CCTV showed Selamaj smashing a steel traffic sign over Sabina’s head and hitting her 34 times before removing her tights and underwear and strangling her.
Her murder sparked national outrage and raised further concerns about women’s safety following the killing of Sarah Everard months earlier. The killer failed to show up to his hearing in April 2022 when he was sentenced to 36 years behind bars, and her family called him a “coward” for his refusal.
Sabina’s parents, Abdur Rouf and Azibun Nessa, addressed the killer directly in court and said: “You had no right to take her away from us in such a cruel way. The moment the police officer came to our house and told her she was found dead our world shattered into pieces. How could you do such a thing to an innocent girl walking by, minding her own business. You are not a human being, you are an animal.”
Daniel White
Serial domestic abuser Daniel White, 36, was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years in March 2023 for the horrific murder of Angela White, 45, in Swansea, Wales. White strangled her and slit her throat with a Stanley knife then fled the house in his wife’s car and called police to confess to the murder.
White refused to attend court for sentencing and Judge Paul Thomas KC branded him a coward, saying: “He does not have the courage to face the family and friends of the woman whose life he so brutally ended. You have a disgraceful history of assaulting women who have had the great misfortune to be in a relationship with you. You were, in short, a serious danger to women – even before you murdered Angie White.”
Angie’s family said in a statement: “Daniel White admitted his guilt but continued to use his manipulative behaviour to delay the outcome. He deliberately absences himself in what we see as his continuing attempts to control this situation and his cowardness in avoiding facing us and justice for what he did to Angie.”
If you are affected by the issues raised in this article, contact SARSAS on [email protected] or reach out for NHS advice on help after rape or sexual assault.