John Hunt returns to the radio at Cheltenham simply days after making heartbreaking assertion in Kyle Clifford court docket case following homicide of spouse and two daughters
John Hunt vowed to ‘carry on’ with his job as the BBC‘s horse racing commentator ‘no matter what’, saying: ‘I know the girls are with me, at all times’.
And in his own inimitable style – and without a flicker of emotion in his voice or any hint at the tragedy his family has faced – he has returned to the airwaves to commentate at the Cheltenham Festival this week.
Today he will commentate on the world famous Gold Cup after the most tumultuous week imaginable.
But Mr Hunt had returned to work just 24 hours after shaming the coward killer of his wife and two daughters when he refused to appear in court to be sentenced for their murders.
On Tuesday the racing commentator described how he could hear the ‘screams of hell’ waiting for Kyle Clifford for murdering Carol, Louise and Hannah Hunt last July.
At Clifford’s sentencing, many wept as Mr Hunt paid tribute to each member of his slaughtered family in an emotional victim impact statement before their killer was given a whole-life order in his absence at Cambridge Crown Court.
‘I so wished to deliver these words eye to eye Kyle and I’ll continue to do so as if I was doing that,’ he said.
But the following day he had travelled the 130 miles from Cambridge to Cheltenham to commentate on his greatest love apart from his wife and children: The Sport of Kings, horse racing.
Introducing him to listeners on Wednesday afternoon, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Mark Chapman, the man who had sobbed on air when his friend’s family was slain last year, said: ‘John is in his usual commentary position yet again.’
BBC 5 Live racing commentator John Hunt is back on the airwaves just days after delivering his statement in court following the murder of his wife and two daughters
Hunt’s wife Carol, as well as his daughter Louise and Hannah, were murdered by Kyle Clifford
Hannah Hunt was killed alongside her mother and sister in the crossbow attack in Bushey
Louise Hunt (pictured), sister of Hannah Hunt and daughter of Carol and John Hunt, was killed
Mr Hunt responded without missing a beat by saying: ‘Yeah, absolutely. I am just thinking about the individuals who illuminate this sport. Nothing else matters Mark. Galopin des Champs is the Antoine Dupont of horse racing. He has looked magnificent. His form is rock solid.’
Chapman then said: ‘This is your 30th Festival, John. Your first Gold Cup was Best Mate.’
Hunt responded: ‘It really does take me back. Everything about Best Mate was geared to Cheltenham. I think Galopin is even better than Best Mate.
‘The weight of history can prove too heavy a toll. Strange things can happen – he’s still got 22 fences ahead. If he’s cherry ripe he will bring this home.’
The racing commentator described just days ago how he could hear the ‘screams of hell’ waiting for Clifford after losing his wife and two of three daughters to the killer in July.
At Clifford’s sentencing, relatives wept as Mr Hunt paid tribute to each member of his slaughtered family in an emotional victim impact statement.
‘I so wished to deliver these words eye to eye Kyle and I’ll continue to do so as if I was doing that,’ he said.
‘The screams of hell, Kyle. I can hear them faintly now.
‘They’re going to roll the red carpet out for you.’
People cried as he described how ‘proud’ he was of ‘all my girls’ in the wake of their brutal murders – while Clifford refused to leave his cell.
Kyle Clifford (pictured) raped and murdered his ex-girlfriend Louise, 25, and killed her mother, Carol, 61, and sister Hannah, 28
In January MailOnline revealed how he had returned to work just 60 days after the deaths of Carol, 61, Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, as a way for him to try to deal with the unimaginable grief of losing them so suddenly and painfully, a friend has said.
The BBC horse racing commentator is believed to have moved away from the family home where Kyle Clifford stabbed Mr Hunt’s wife and fatally shot two of his three daughters with a crossbow. His third child Amy was not caught up in the attack.
Clifford, who had been dumped by Louise Hunt, will never be released from prison that wreaked ‘devastation on an unimaginable scale’ for Mr Hunt and his surviving child Amy in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on July 9 last year.
Just 60 days later John had bravely returned to work at the Brighton races ‘on a quiet day’ in September.
A colleague told MailOnline today: ‘Perhaps returning to work so soon was his way of dealing with the trauma.
‘All of us in racing were heartbroken. He is a fine broadcaster but the thing that struck us was how devoted he was as a family man. He talked of them all a great deal’.
Another friend said that John has clearly found some comfort in working again – but once a fixture in the press room and keen to chat about his family and beloved West Ham, he now keeps himself more to himself.
‘I saw him walking across the course alone recently. I fully understand why’, a colleague said.
Mr Hunt shared a birthday message for his surviving daughter in January. He praised Amy’s beauty and strength after a harrowing year where their family was taken from them.
‘It’s what a proud father would say. And that’s John’, the friend said.
‘John is the very best of men. The esteem in which he is held by his colleagues could not be higher’, he went on.
‘John is the bravest man I know. And an incredible talent, with no ego. When I saw him he would always ask about my children and my family’, the friend said.
‘And it was the same with his girls – they were everything to him. He always talked about them.
‘He has huge compassion. And always lived for his family. He was so proud.
‘They were a family surrounded by good people – but it shows how one bad seed can get in and ruin everything’.
Since the murders race courses and officials all over the country have provided a crutch for him and tried to make him comfortable in any way they can.
Colleagues described hearing the news that his wife and children had died last summer.
‘There was a minute’s silence for his family at Newmarket and it was the most sombre and grave atmosphere because of the love for him. The jockeys were also bereft. They all knew him and trusted him’, one said.
‘He returned on one quiet day in September at Brighton and he chose that he because he knew he had to get back to work and stay at home with his thoughts. He came in into a quiet meeting and did his work.
‘John has no ego. When you are listening to John call a race it feels like a friend is talking to you.
‘He creates drama and makes it easy to understand. He’s the master of his craft.
‘He’s a massive West Ham fan and loves talking football but he’s got a job to do and wants to call a race with clarity. That is his focus’.
After the brutal killings the grieving widower urged people to ‘make the most of every day’ as his friend and fellow commentator Matt Chapman opened up about Mr Hunt having the ‘family unit he absolutely adored’ ripped apart.
Through the searing emotional pain, the loving father’s thoughts turned to Amy and his ‘biggest desire’ to make her life ‘a little less stressful’.
A fundraiser set up for the Hunt family raised more than £120,000 that Mr Chapman, a colleague on Sky Sports Racing, said is ‘not going to take their grief away – it’s not going to take the pain away or change anything – but it might help them have an easier life’.
Mr Hunt released a short statement with Amy after the tragedy saying: ‘The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words.’
In a further statement read by Mr Chapman, Mr Hunt 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.’
He added: ‘Amy, my eldest daughter, has been magnificently inspirational with her control and support for me, which I am trying, trying so hard, to replicate.
‘Every message has felt so important, the same as a reassuring hug. We know people are worried about us. We will get through this.’
Mr Hunt had stepped down shortly after the tragedy, missing the Paris Olympics where he was due to commentate on the swimming events for the BBC.
He emotionally told of the anguish and torment he and his surviving daughter were going through since ‘his girls’ were murdered, and how his ‘knees buckled’ as he looked out from the press box.
‘It’s been 60 days since my girls, Carol, Hannah and Louise were killed and whilst Amy and I still feel so wounded and vulnerable, returning to work at Brighton felt achievable and realistic,’ he said.
‘Carol and I had our last weekend away together in Brighton at the end of May and looking out from the press box, out to sea, my knees buckled recalling us on the wild rapids ride on the pier just over three months ago.
‘Soaked to the skin and laughing like teenagers.
‘But I know the girls are with me, at all times and would have been gently encouraging me to take a breath or two, and stride on.’
