Man accused of murders of wife and two daughters of racing commentator John Hunt pleads not guilty

Kyle Clifford has pleaded not guilty at a court hearing on Thursday to murdering two daughters and the wife of racing commentator John Hunt.

Carol Hunt and her daughters Hannah and Louise died from injuries sustained in an attack at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire on July 9 this year. Carol Hunt had been stabbed and her daughters suffered fatal injuries from crossbow bolts.

Clifford, 26, who appeared in Cambridge Crown Court via video link from HMP Belmarsh, also pleaded not guilty to carrying an offensive weapon and to false imprisonment. He did not enter a plea for a new charge of rape which was added to the indictment on Thursday, as he was not required to do so by the court.

A provisional trial date has been set for March 3 next year. 

Following the attack on their family, John Hunt and his daughter Amy said the “devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words” but that the messages and support they had been given “provided great comfort to us”.

In a subsequent statement, John Hunt said: “Notwithstanding the horrid evil that's swept through our lives, wreaking devastation on an unimaginable scale, the counter to that has been the messages of support. Amy, my eldest daughter, has been magnificently inspirational with her control and support for me, which I'm trying hard to replicate.”

A minute’s silence was held at racecourses in Britain two days after the murders of Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt, while a fundraising page set up for John and Amy Hunt by ITV racing broadcaster Matt Chapman has raised more than £123,000.

As well as heading up the BBC’s racing commentary team, Hunt leads the corporation's swimming commentaries on radio and is a well-respected racecourse commentator. Hunt, who was named broadcaster of the year at the 2015 Horserace Writers & Photographers Association Derby Awards, returned to racecourse commentaries in September.