Clifford is sentenced to life in prison for three ‘brutal and cowardly’ murders of Carol Hunt, 61, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28.

A former British soldier who used a crossbow and a knife to murder three women at their family home north of London has been sentenced to a whole-life order, meaning that he would never be released from prison.

Kyle Clifford, 26, was imprisoned for life for each of the three “brutal and cowardly” murders of Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of BBC sports commentator John Hunt, and their two daughters Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28.

He was convicted of three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons.

He was also found guilty of raping Louise Hunt, his ex-partner, during the “carefully planned” attack on the family.

Justice Joel Bennathan handed down the sentence in Clifford’s absence on Tuesday after he refused to attend the hearing at Cambridge Crown Court in east England.

“The evidence I have heard shows you to be a jealous man soaked in self-pity – a man who holds women in utter contempt,” Bennathan said.

Prosecutors said Clifford planned the murders for days after becoming enraged when an increasingly concerned Louise ended their 18-month relationship.

During the case, the jury was shown evidence that Clifford gained access to the family home in the quiet residential neighborhood of Bushey, northeast of the capital, by deceiving Carol Hunt on the pretext he was returning Louise’s belongings, before brutally stabbing her to death.

Clifford “lay in wait” for an hour for Louise to enter the house, before restraining, raping and murdering her with a crossbow. He then fatally shot Hannah Hunt when she returned to the property after work.

Following the murders, police launched a manhunt for the suspect before he was found injured the following day in a cemetery in Enfield, north London.

Clifford had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow. He remains in a wheelchair, having been paralysed from the chest downwards.

Ahead of the sentencing, John Hunt said he had wanted to deliver his victim impact statement “eye to eye with Kyle”.

“When I challenged myself about how you were able to deceive us all, I simply say that you are a psychopath who, for the duration of your time together with Louise, was able to disguise yourself as an ordinary human being,” John Hunt told the court.

“I hope women round the world will take Louise’s bravery as a shining beacon for their lives,” he said.