Triple killer Kyle Clifford raped his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt before he killed her at her family home.
Clifford had previously confessed to the murders of his former partner Louise, 25, her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, and their mother Carol Hunt, 61, on July 9 last year. Dog grooming business owner Louise, who was the daughter of BBC Five Live racing commentator John Hunt, died alongside her elder sister and mother at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Today, a jury took just minutes to return a guilty verdict for rape. It’s expected that prosecutors will now demand that Clifford is handed a whole-life term during his sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court.
Clifford, of Enfield, north London, had pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, a charge of false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons. But he denied raping Louise while holding her captive, in what was described by prosecutors as a “violent, sexual act of spite”.
In the days before her death at the hands of her evil ex-partner, Louise had taken tragic steps to escape him, with the support of her concerned loved ones.
Friends’ concerns
Clifford first met “caring, positive and happy” Louise through a dating site, the court heard, with prosecutors telling how friends and family had been “concerned” about the “effect of her relationship” with Clifford.
One of Louise’s friends claimed Clifford had a “nasty temper”, while another recalled how he’d been “disrespectful, rude and arrogant”, as per prosecutor Alison Morgan KC. Mrs Morgan explained: “They hoped that the relationship would come to an end. A friend of Louise became aware that Louise was concerned about the relationship itself and wanted to end it.
“Louise had told her about the defendant’s behaviour towards her and that she had come to realise that he was not a person that she wanted to be with anymore. Louise made it clear that she was ending the relationship, which her friend supported.
“Louise was firm in rebuffing any attempts by the defendant for them to get back together. The prosecution alleges that this firm rejection by Louise which angered the defendant and provides the context and motive for the events of July 9.”
Clifford is said to have had relationships with two other women he worked with while he was still with Louise, keeping these relationships a secret from her. Ultimately, Louise ended their 18-month romance after they’d attended a friend’s wedding in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Mrs Morgan told the court: “A friend of Louise, Mary Hammon, witnessed the defendant’s unpleasant behaviour towards others, describing him not caring what others thought and doing what he wanted, including behaving in a rude manner.
“Mary describes the final catalyst for the break-up being the friend’s wedding which took place at the end of June 2024. The defendant implied that he had slept with a number of people at the wedding, which upset Louise. The defendant also made a series of patronising comments about Louise’s ability to use an oven.”
Break up texts
On June 23, the day they returned from this wedding, Louise messaged Clifford to let him know she had spoken to her father and that “they needed to have a conversation”.
The court heard how Clifford responded with a furious flurry of messages, telling Louise he was “not going to take sh*t from her” and that he wasn’t going to “beg someone to love me for who I am”. He then allegedly signed off by saying: “So you can go talk to your dad and whoever else and moan about it, etc go ahead. Goodnight.”
Mrs Morgan said: “The messages suggest that Louise and the defendant were not together following their return from Scarborough. The relevance of that will be that it is suggested by the defendant that they had sexual intercourse on that date.
“Whilst not every minute of that day is covered by the messages, the messages do not indicate that they were getting on well together.” On June 24, Louise responded to Clifford’s message, which showed “how upset she was by the defendant’s messages”. It was at this point that she offered to meet in person to talk things through.
Clifford reportedly replied telling Louise she was being “unreasonable”. He also told her: “You always love to make all these comments to make me feel like the bad guy and I’m done with it. You can go and find Mr Perfect.”
Louise then replied expressing how the relationship was “sucking the life out of me”, writing: “I’ve cried too many times.” Clifford eventually appeared to accept things were over between them, the court heard, sending Louise the following message: “When I look back on all our dates, holidays and time together it brings me to tears, that all of that is being thrown out of the window because we can’t work through this?
“I honestly can’t think of doing life without you, it makes me sick and is just bringing me to tears thinking about it I can easily just bottle this up like I do with most other things and try to move on but what an idiot I would be to do that, you don’t deserve that, I don’t deserve that and whatever in this universe it was that brought us together would be so disappointed in us.”
He allegedly added: “You have a boy here who thinks the world of you, who unconditionally needs you and would do anything for you.” Louise agreed to meet with Clifford, with sister, Hannah, driving her over to his home as she’d crashed her car that morning.
Hannah told her boyfriend that she was driving Louise around to Clifford’s address because “they’re pretty much broken up but she just wants some form of civil closure. Hopefully we won’t be there for long. Things a big sis has gotta do.”
She later told him: “Yeah she’s okay. He’s obvs turned on the water works and has now made her ‘confused’. She’s taking a few days to think about it.” During this exchange between Hannah and her partner, Clifford was referred to as a “t*sser*.
Then, on June 26, Louise, firm in her decision to end things, sent Kyle a message telling him she wanted to “take some space and walk away” from their relationship – and he initially appeared to accept her choice.
As Mrs Morgan told the court, Louise sent the following message to Clifford: “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.”
She continued: “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.”
Cambridge Crown Court heard how Clifford appeared to accept this, replying: “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.”
However, the killer became angry after his attempts to “rekindle” their romance were “rebuffed”, and set about orchestrating a “carefully planned and executed” attack on Louise and her family, who had “supported” her in her decision.
Mrs Morgan told jurors how Louise had “instigated the end of the relationship, supported by her friends and family”. She continued: “In the days that followed, the defendant tried 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.”
Phone note
In the days that followed the break-up, Louise made a note on her phone, laying out the “reasons why she should not be sad about ending the relationship” with Clifford. This included his “racist comments” and his views on transgender people.
As heard by the court, the note, which she had titled, “When you’re sad, look!”, included reasons such as his family being a “mess” and his “road rage”, as well as his use of “belittling” language.
The note also referenced Clifford’s brother Bradley Clifford, who had previously been jailed for life for murder. Louise had noted that Clifford had not found what his brother had done to be “horrendous”, and had continued too see him every other week.
Mrs Morgan stated that the list had also included how Clifford had believed himself to have a higher IQ than Louise’s family and that he found the violence of his father and brother to be “funny”.
Car crash
Speaking with the Mail Online, neighbour Glyn Nicholas claimed that Louise had been left so distraught in the aftermath of a recent break-up that she crashed her car in the week leading up to her tragic death. Glyn, 77, said: “Louise was a very nice girl. She ran a dog grooming business from the house. I heard that she split from a boyfriend last week and was very upset about it. So much so that she was driving home at some point last week and drove into a wooden telegraph pole not far from the house.
“Another dog groomer – who is a friend of Louise’s – told me that her car door had caved in because of the crash. Who the boyfriend was, I don’t know, I never saw him. I believe Hannah, Louise’s sister, was also killed along with their mother Carol.”
Haunting final tweet
In a harrowing final post shared via social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Louise reposted a message expressing her admiration for ‘women who leave’.
The message read: “In a haunting final tweet,The tweet read: “I admire women who leave. idgaf if you left after the 1st time or the 12th time I admire that s–t! idgaf if ppl was calling you dümb for 11 years but in the 12th year you decided you was done. it takes ALOT of strength to break a tie. it takes ALOT of self love to choose yo self.”
Rape
Prosecutors told the court how, on July 4, Clifford picked up two large petrol cans which he had allegedly bought to destroy any evidence. Later that same day, CCTV footage showed Clifford purchasing two rolls of tape at B&Q, which he later allegedly used to rape and kill her.
Mrs Morgan told the jury: “The defendant set about planning an attack on the Hunt family, including Louise. He purchased weapons and equipment for an attack which he intended would involve killing more than one person and would involve the restraint and rape of Louise Hunt.
“The defendant’s planning began shortly after Louise Hunt sent the message ending their relationship. 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 her.
“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.”
Phil Bradley KC, defending Clifford, told the court that his client had denied raping Louise, but that it was not disputed that Clifford’s DNA had been found. Mr Bradley said that Clifford and Louise “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”.
Ms Morgan KC stated that Louise “would later be found to be restrained at the ankles and at the wrists by taping”. She added that it was “also alleged she was gagged”, continuing: “It’s forensic evidence the prosecution say demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that penetrative sexual activity took place”.
The barrister said that the rape had taken place while Louise was restrained at the address. However, it was not possible to say whereabouts in the property this act had occurred. Mrs Morgan asserted:“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”.
Jurors at Cambridge Crown Court were advised it was “most likely she (Louise Hunt) was aware that her mother had been murdered by the defendant”, with Mrs Morgan stating: “So the sole question in this trial for you to consider is whether the presence of the DNA… came from non-consensual sexual activity on that day, July 9, or from June 23,” she said.
Clarifying that there was no suggestion of lawful sexual activity on July 9 “amid all of the horror that was going on”, she added: “The sole question is was it on this day as the prosecution allege, or as the defence suggest a relic of sexual activity – if that happened – on June 23.”
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