EXCLUSIVE: John Hunt and daughter Amy bravely speak out after crossbow killer destroyed family
BBC Winter Olympics commentator John and his daughter Amy Hunt give rare interview to urge changes to stop violent attacks
John and Amy Hunt say their beloved families deaths at the hands of the crossbow killer should not be in vain and more needs to be done to address the issue of violent male attacks.
Kyle Clifford fatally stabbed 61-year-old mum Carol, before he raped his former partner, Louise, 25, then used a crossbow to shoot both her and her sister Hannah, 28 – all at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, in July 2024. In a rare interview, racing commentator John – who has been covering the Winter Olympics – and his daughter Amy spoke out and insisted there needs to be a greater understanding of why young men can go off the rails in this way.
John and Amy sadly know the impact of male violence and in a heartbreaking interview they insist there needs to be a greater understanding of why young men can go off the rails and become killers. John said: “There will be another girl, there will be another woman, at the hands of a young boy or man. That will happen. But if that young boy or man is out there at the moment feeling they’re drifting, they’re lacking focus, lacking self-esteem, just think about what your next move is. We just hope any young man watching doesn’t feel like we’re piling on them. Our boys are to be cherished and boys, we are completely with you. It’s certainly too late for people like Kyle Clifford but it’s the kids who are not yet at school that we’ve got to be thinking about.”
Louise, Hannah, and Carol Hunt were brutally murdered by Kyle Clifford
His daughter Amy said she felt a “desire to speak about this avoidable harm that happened to my mum and sisters”. She added: “It’s almost a duty, something we owe to our family. I think if you’re a good man and you try your best and you’re respectful, we’re not talking to you and I hope you know that. Being a bad man is a problem and doing bad things to women because you’re angry or frustrated or your in pain, is a problem.
“Every woman whose life has been taken by male violence, we all owe it to them to address this issue because I think any woman who something like this happens to, there’s a huge anger. I’m furious that someone took their lives from them. It should never have happened.
“And it was done by a man who made a series of choices, but it was also against a back drop which allows misogyny to fester and misogyny is a part of our lives, it’s a part of our society and we must try and dismantle it because they should still be living their lives.
“There’s no good reason why they’re not here. I’m furious and everyone should be furious. We all have this responsibility to do something about it because at the moment our society allows these crimes to happen.”
The pair spoke as part of a new five part series, Ross Kemp: Lost Boys, Deadly Men. The documentary, which launches next month on Crime+Investigation, sees EastEnders actor Ross investigate the growing violence against women and girls across the UK. He looks at five murder cases to try and understand why young boys are becoming deadly men.
The series sees actor and TV host Ross, 61, confront a catalogue of issues impacting boys and young men in Britain, from mental health, confusion of masculinity, fear of rejection and crippling confidence. After the murders of Louise, Hannah and Carol in 2024, attention turned to the influence of online “manosphere” after it emerged Clifford had watched Andrew Tate videos before his brutal attack.
Ross examines the media reaction, speaking to students and researchers about whether such content can shape beliefs and behaviour and asks whether focusing on influencers over simplifies the deeper, systemic causes of misogyny.
Kyle Clifford in police custody(Image: HERTFORDSHIRE POLICE)
Ross Kemp fronts the new show that features the Clifford case(Image: Crime+Investigation)
For Amy, it’s to easy to place the blame of why men are violent solely at the door of influencers like Andrew Tate, but believes instead society needs to look at mental health and why many boys have a distorted view of what it means to be a man.
She said: “Taking the life of someone is weakness and it comes from an inability to confront your own pain because that’s what Kyle Clifford did. My family did nothing to warrant the harm he caused them.
“He was feeling pain, he took it out on women he considered to be less than him, I believe, and that’s the end of it. And that’s not being a man, that’s the complete opposite of being a man.
“When it comes to understanding the harms that male violence can do to women, what he did, it’s easy to call him a monster and pretend they are some ghoulish monster, ‘no man in my life is like that, no one I’ve ever known is like that’. Well that’s what everyone thought about Kyle Clifford until the night of July 2024.
“He was a violent man who inflicted harm on women without a single care. That is not masculinity, it’s not strength, it’s not bravery, it’s not being a man, it’s not being hard, cool or whatever. That is weakness.”
John and Amy have been rebuilding their lives after the tragedy that rocked their family and are determined that Louise, Hannah and Carol are not just remembered as another sad statistic.
They spoke of the love and joy the family had prior to the attack, as Amy explained: “My mum and sisters were all about fun, they were about hard work, enjoying themselves, indulging in their passions, making fun of each other. They were about all the things that build a beautiful life, that’s what they did and what they had.”
John added: “There was the most glorious rhythm to all the chaos, it was a busy household from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. There was a lovely flow to the whole thing.
“They continue to be a bright light in all of our family and extended friendship group. They still shine very brightly and they will forever.”
When asked how she wants her sisters and mum to be remembered, Amy bravely said: “If you think of my mum and sisters, I’d ask you to be motivated and encouraged to tackle and address the issues of male violence that took their lives from them.
“But I’d also ask you to embrace the joy in your lives in their honour. I’d ask you to have fun in their honour, I’d ask you to live as they did, as a way of remembering them.
“Everything I do, and every time we try and have some positivity in our lives, is because of them and their influence on our lives. I’d ask that people remember them for them and not what happened to them.”
Ross, who has tackled a string of serious topics including war and gang violence, admits he was nervous exploring the rise in male violence against women.
But praised the bravery of John and Amy for speaking out as he admitted bringing awareness could help others spot the warning signs before it’s too late.
He said: “They are incredibly brave, very honest, and I don’t think I’d be able to conduct myself in such an enlightened way if I was in their position.
“It’s important to them to keep the memory of Carol, Louise and Hannah alive. They do not want their loved ones to be remembered as victims of Kyle Clifford and they’re not, as far as I’m concerned.
“He was dubbed the ‘crossbow killer’ with the media concentrating on the weapon that he used, the fact that he watched an Andrew Tate video two days before he committed the murders, but not why he did it.
“What were the reasons? What was going on in his head? Where was he mentally? He had great issues with rejection, but he was also trying to date other girls at the time, so why did he do it?
“Only Clifford could answer that question. Amy and John are extraordinarily brave and intelligent. They want the message to get out there that what they’re going through shouldn’t happen again.
“There needs to be certain changes made. The more aware you make people of a problem, the more likely they are to understand it and then spot the warning signs in themselves or in others before it’s too late.”
