As BBC racing pundit John Hunt prepares to return to Cheltenham next week, he has opened up about how he is attempting to move on from the horrifying murder of his wife and two daughters.
BBC racing commentator John Hunt has opened up about his unimaginable grief, following the death of his wife and two daughters, Louise and Hannah. The three women were killed by Louise’s ex boyfriend Kyle Clifford on 9 July 2024, who murdered them in a horrifying act of violence in their own home in Bushey, Herts., using a crossbow.
Clifford, a former soldier, from Enfield, London, was 26 when he pleaded guilty to murdering the three women in 2025. However, as he denied also raping Louise, he forced the murdered women’s family and friends to endure the horror of a trial, during which the horrific details of his crimes were dissected.
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He was eventually convicted of the murders and rape, and was sentenced in March 2025. In a final act of cowardice, the killer refused to attend the sentencing, where he received a whole life order.
And now, as he prepares to work at Cheltenham races next week, John, 61, has opened up on the aftermath of losing his wife and two daughters. Speaking to the Telegraph, he explained how he has learned not to push his recovery “too hard”, as it leads him to ‘unravel’.
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John said: “It [grief] writes its own rules, it’s the strangest thing. You can wake up at half past seven one morning and think, ‘I feel quite bright today’. And then, for no reason at all, come half past eight, you’re on your knees again.”
He said that he has accepted he doesn’t have control over how he feels, admitting that he feels “a strength in the surrender” but he is “still exploring” how to navigate it. John added: “You develop a confidence that you can cope, even though nothing changes.”
John and his daughter Amy have co-founded The Hunt Family Fund, which was set up in memory of their loved ones. The pair took part in a moving interview last year, with the pair discussing the grieving process and how they keep the memory of the family alive.
John said that Carol, Louise and Hannah remained a constant presence in their lives, and that he still talks to them every day. He said: “From the moment I wake up, I say good morning to each of them.
“Sometimes I say out loud to Hannah and Louise, ‘girls, sorry I can’t be with you, I’m with your mum at the moment’. As I close my eyes at night, I chat to them as well. They’re very close to me all the time.”
John and Amy say they took the decision to talk because they did not want their loved ones to be defined by their deaths. Amy says the minute Clifford left their home on the day of the incident, “my mum, Hannah and Louise became a statistic. They became victims of Kyle Clifford”. She added: “I want to breathe life back into my mum, Hannah and Louise as fully-rounded people.”
They also firmly rejected claims that Clifford showed signs of abuse during his relationship with Louise. Amy said: “Did we have any indication that this man was capable of stabbing my mother, of tying Louise up, of raping Louise, of shooting Louise and shooting Hannah? Absolutely not.”
The Hunt family were always extremely close and supportive. John’s wife Carol encouraged him to leave his job as a police officer to follow his dream of becoming a racing commentator. John, Carol, Hannah and Louise lived together.
Louise ran a dog-grooming business from a pod in the garden, while Hannah worked in aesthetics. Their life, John said, was “one of complete happiness – awash with it, really”.
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