Father of murdered teenager brands Clifford brothers as ‘evil men’

The father of a teenager brutally murdered by the brother of crossbow killer Kyle Clifford has branded the siblings “evil men who the public need protecting from forever”. Clifford, 26, was this week sentenced to a whole life jail term for the murder of the wife and two daughters of commentator John Hunt. The monster erupted in fury after being dumped by Louise Hunt, 25, who he killed and raped in an orgy of violence that also saw him murder her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother Carol, 61.

As he plotted the killing spree, Clifford phoned his behind bars brother Bradley to tell about the purchase of his killing kit – including the crossbow he would use in his rampage. Bradley took the call from the prison where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of 18-year-old Sobah Khan after a bottle was thrown at the plumber’s £35,000 American muscle car. Bradley, now 30, ran down Sobhan and his friend Jahshua Francis, 19, in his Ford Mustang after they hit his car with a bottle following a spat outside a pub. The two were trying to flee on a moped when Bradley crashed into them, catapulting them skywards. Bradley then beat seriously injured Mr Khan as he lay on the ground, punching him hard nine times.

The teenager later died and his post-mortem gave his cause of death as multiple injuries. Mr Francis was rushed to hospital but recovered from his injuries.

During the trial, the jury was told how Bradley became “enraged” when his Mustang EcoBoost’s wing mirror was broken, beginning a “rapid, brutal and unrelenting” chase through the streets of north London.

He was found guilty of murder and attempted GBH with intent. He was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years for the murder of Mr Khan and seven years for the attack on Mr Francis.

Now the father of Soban has spoken for the first time of his revulsion at the pair.

Najam Khan said: “The Clifford brothers are evil men who the public will need protecting from forever.”

Mr Khan, 49, also told Mailonline of his sympathy for Mr Hunt and his only surviving daughter, Amy, saying: “Our whole family were very, very upset by this. We hate these brothers over what happened.

“My son was innocent when he was murdered and now another three innocent people have been murdered too. A family – two sisters and a mother – have been murdered.”

In a victim impact statement so harrowing that it upset even seasoned court workers, Mr Hunt on Monday had pointedly blamed the Clifford family for failing to warn the police what crazed Kyle was polling to do.

Addressing Kyle Clifford – despite him having been too cowardly to come to court for sentencing – he said: “Your family…will carry guilt forwards with them for the rest of their lives. They knew about the weapons, they knew.”

Choking back tears Mr Khan said that he completely agreed with Mr Hunt’s assessment of Bradley Clifford’s culpability for what then happened to Louise, Hannah and Carol.

He said: “He should have informed the police. But the brothers had criminal minds. They have proved that they are both evil with a violent mentality.”

Soban was a clean cut teenager who was about to embark on a university career when a random encounter with Bradley would cost him his life.

The older Clifford brother was driving his car outside a bar in Enfield when he passed a scooter at 3am in August 2017.

Clifford’s subsequent Old Bailey trial would hear that Soban had provoked Bradley by throwing a bottle at the car he was fiercely proud of – though Mr Khan is adamant that this never happened and that there was not even this minimal provocation to justify what he then did.

Soban’s father added: “We saw the news about these three women being murdered and we were very upset when we found out that he was the brother of the man who killed my own son.”

Mr Khan said his family had come under renewed stress when Soban’s name was mentioned in connection with the crossbow murders as having been killed by Bradley Clifford, the brother of Kyle Clifford.

He said: “I was off work for a few days after these murders because they brought back our memories too.

“I was in the Old Bailey and I heard the whole proceedings and the case about the death of my son.

“He was very innocent, he was very young. He had just finished school and was expecting to start university in a few weeks.

“He had finished his A-levels and had got a work experience placement with the Barclays Bank.

“He was a very innocent boy. He was good at sports, football and rugby. He was very popular at school as well. He had arranged work experience at a bank and he wanted to start his own business.’

The grieving father said Soban’s mother had collapsed when she learned of his brutal death while he had suffered three separate heart attacks brought on by the devastation of their loss.

He said: “My wife was very mentally upset and was taken to hospital,’ he recalled. ‘She had been working for a company as a designer, but she first reduced her hours and eventually she left her job altogether.

“Now she just goes to the graveyard and sits there and prays for him.”

Mr Khan revealed that Bradley Clifford had also started pleading for his freedom almost as soon as he was jailed, saying police notified him that the killer was trying to appeal to get early release from prison.

But he has vowed to fight this at every step.

He insisted: “We would not feel safe if he was released. We have refused his application. After just one year he wanted to come out, and I said ‘no, this is not possible’.

“I will request the police to keep an eye on (the brothers) forever and give them a lesson.”