A man has pleaded guilty to murdering the wife and two daughters of racing commentator John Hunt in a crossbow attack.

Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, was accused of stabbing Carol Hunt, 61, to death and fatally shooting Louise, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, with a crossbow at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on 9 July last year.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of an offensive weapon, alongside the murder charges. He denied one count of rape and will face a trial for this charge later in the year.

Clifford had tied the arms and ankles of his former partner, Louise, with duct tape before he shot her through the chest with a crossbow bolt.

Her sister, Hannah, was found in the main doorway of the house with a crossbow bolt to the chest. She was still alive when police arrived at the property, having managed to call the emergency services, telling officers she feared she was going to die.

Their mother, Carol, sustained significant stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso after Clifford attacked her with a 10in butcher’s knife.

Following the deaths, Sky Sports and BBC racing commentator Mr Hunt said the devastation he and his surviving daughter Amy feel “cannot be put into words”.

Recap: How manhunt unfolded

Clifford, a former member of the military, became the subject of a manhunt for a number of hours before he was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield. He had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow.

Following the attacks, the Home Office said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was urgently considering whether tougher crossbow laws were needed. But in the King’s Speech, which took place just days later, no proposal for action on the weapon was mentioned.

The previous government looked at bringing in firearms licensing-style rules in the wake of an attempt to kill the late Queen with a crossbow.

Read more: What the law says on crossbows

There is currently no registration system for owning a crossbow, but it is illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or own one, and carrying one in public without reasonable excuse can be punished by up to four years in prison.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a fatal stabbing in Birmingham.

A 12-year-old boy was found with serious injuries near Scribers Lane in Hall Green shortly after 3pm yesterday.

He was taken to hospital, but sadly died as a result of his injuries, West Midlands Police said.

The victim’s family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Police have called for anyone who may know something about the incident to come forward and assist with inquiries.

A Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP), where members of the public can submit photos or video evidence, has been set up and can be reached at mipp.police.uk, the force added.

People can get in touch by calling 101 or live chat by quoting log 3324 of 21 January.

It comes a day after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said tougher measures would be introduced to tackle knife sales online after she revealed that Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was “easily able to order a knife on Amazon” when he was still aged 17 and had been convicted over violence.

She told MPs: “That’s a total disgrace and it must change. So, we will bring in stronger measures to tackle knife sales online in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring.”

The sale of knives with a fixed blade of more than three inches long to under-18s is illegal in England and Wales.

But the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) said sales of knives to people under the legal age “continues to be an issue for retail”.

The NBCC said research has shown that far too many knives were being sold illegally, with 160 illegal sales made to children in London in a 12-month period.

It said these sales were often made by retailers who lacked knowledge or confidence when it came to selling age-restricted products.

Benefit fraudsters could be banned from driving and subject to bank account snooping if they fail to pay back the taxpayer, under a new government crackdown.

In an effort to curb welfare fraud, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched what has been dubbed the biggest fraud crackdown in a generation.

The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill would introduce new measures, including allowing the government to recover money directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts.

It is due to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday and the DWP estimates it could help save the taxpayer £1.5bn over the next five years.

According to government figures, around £8.6bn was lost to fraud and error overpayments in the financial year ending in April 2024.

Gang member convicted of ‘industrial scale’ £50m benefit fraud

Once the bill is made law, benefit cheats could be banned from driving for up to two years if they refuse to pay back the money they owe.

Courts could also suspend their driving licences following an application if they have debts of £1,000 or more and repayment requests are ignored.

The DWP will also have the power to get bank statements from people who it believes have enough cash to pay back the debts but are refusing to do so.

“We are turning off the tap to criminals who cheat the system and steal law-abiding taxpayers’ money,” Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said.

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She added: “This means greater consequences for fraudsters who cheat and evade the system, including as a last resort in the most serious cases removing their driving licence.

“Backed up by new and important safeguards including reporting mechanisms and independent oversight to ensure the powers are used proportionately and safely.

“People need to have confidence the government is opening all available doors to tackle fraud and eliminate waste, as we continue the most ambitious programme for government in a generation – with a laser-like focus on outcomes which will make the biggest difference to their lives as part of our Plan for Change.”

There was a significant spike in fraud and error-related benefit overpayments during the COVID pandemic.

Rates nearly doubled from the financial year ending April 2021 to their peak in 2023 at around 4% of the total amount of benefit paid by the department.

The incoming bill will grant more powers to tackle this COVID-era fraud.

Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, claimed the laws were a “continuation” of Conservative efforts.

She added: “But having knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster to his cabinet, Keir Starmer cannot be trusted to get tough on fraud.”

Ms Whately was referring to former transport secretary Louise Haigh, who was forced to resign from the cabinet after it was revealed that in 2013 she had lied to police over a work phone she had said was stolen in a mugging.