Crossbow killing: BBC star John Hunt's heartbreaking tribute to only surviving daughter

BBC and Sky Sports Racing commentator John Hunt lost three members of his family in an attack at their Hertfordshire home - he paid a heartbreaking tribute to his only surviving daughter Amy

John Hunt paid tribute to his "magnificently inspirational" daughter following the murders of her two sisters and their mum.

The BBC and Sky Sports Racing commentator lost his wife Carol and two daughters Hannah and Louise after they were attacked at their home in July.

Kyle Clifford, 26, today admitted to fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt and her sister with a crossbow, as well as stabbing their mother at the family home in the quiet cul-de-sac of Ashlyn Close in Bushey, Hertfordshire, in July.

He shot his 25-year-old former partner Louise through the chest with a crossbow bolt. Carol, 61, sustained significant stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso following an attack with a 10in butcher’s knife. Hannah Hunt, 28, was found in the main doorway of the house with a crossbow bolt to the chest and was still alive when police arrived at the property.

Clifford, who served in the military from 2019 for around three years, became the subject of a manhunt for a number of hours before he was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield, north London, after shooting himself in the chest with the crossbow.

Appearing via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday, Clifford pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment against Louise Hunt, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping Louise Hunt.

In a statement read to Sky Sports Racing viewers by colleague Matt Chapman, John Hunt paid tribute to his "inspirational" surviving daughter Amy. He said: "Notwithstanding the horrid evil that's swept through our lives, wreaking devastation on an unimaginable scale, the counter to that has been the breathtaking messages of support, some of which are still to be read. Amy, my eldest daughter, has been magnificently inspirational with her control and support for me, which I am trying so hard to replicate."

Mr Hunt and Amy also issued a statement together following the incident, which said: “The devastation we are experiencing cannot be put into words.” Clifford , from Enfield, north London, will face a trial for the charge of rape at the same court later this year.