A 26-YEAR-OLD MAN who murdered his ex-girlfriend and her sister with a crossbow before stabbing their mother to death in the UK is set to stand trial accused of rape.

Kyle Clifford, who tied 25-year-old former partner Louise Hunt’s arms and ankles with duct tape and shot her through the chest with a crossbow bolt during the incident in July last year, denies a further charge of raping her.

The defendant previously admitted three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment against Louise Hunt, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife.

Ms Hunt’s 61-year-old mother Carol Hunt, the wife of BBC commentator John Hunt, sustained significant stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso following an attack by Clifford at the family home in the quiet cul-de-sac of Ashlyn Close in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

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 at around 7.10pm on 9 July.

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.

Clifford, of Enfield, north London, is set to stand trial at Cambridge Crown Court for the charge of rape today.