‘Sleepover’ murderer given whole-life term for killing pregnant partner and three children

Damien Bendall murdered four before going into town to get drugs, court hears

A quadruple murderer has been been given a whole-life prison term for killing his pregnant partner and three children with a claw hammer during a sleepover.

Damien Bendall, 32, killed Lacey, 11, her brother John, 13, their mother Terri Harris, 35, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11, at their home in Killamarsh, Derbyshire.

Bendall has also been sentenced for raping a defenceless Lacey as she lay dying from the head wounds he had inflicted with the weapon during the horrific attack on 19 September 2021, Derby Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

The whole life order sentence, which is only given out in the most serious cases, means Bendall will die in jail.

From left to right: Victims Connie Gent, Lacey Bennett, John-Paul Bennett and Terri Harris (Derbyshire Police)

In an emotional victim impact statement, Lacey and John’s father Jason Bennett said: “It’s like my life has been shattered into a billion pieces, never to be repaired. I no longer have a future. Life is empty.

“All I have is sadness. The love I crave is from my beautiful kids.”

Angela Smith, Ms Harris’ mother, said in a statement: “Bendall has taken everything of me and I feel empty. I wish he had taken my life and not theirs as they had their whole lives ahead of them.”

Connie’s father, Charles Gent, said: “The murder of my daughter has completely torn my life apart. I feel totally lost and numb through the pain and distress this has caused me ... The man who carried out the crimes can only be described as truly evil and should never be free from incarceration.”

Sentencing Bendall, Mr Justice Sweeney said: “It is accepted that the seriousness of your offences is so exceptionally high the court must make a whole-life order. I agree.

“You are now aged 32 and have a significant background of violent offending, including robbery. As the prosecution have said, you carried out brutal, violent and cruel attacks on a defenceless woman and three young children.”

The court heard that Bendall had gone room to room looking for his victims.

Lacey with her brother John-Paul and their mother Terri (PA)

Tributes to the late mother and the three children after their murder last year (PA)

Prosecutor Louis Mably KC said: “It does appear each [victim] was attacked in a different room, [and] appears he went around the house looking for them, attacking them each in turn, in order to kill them.”

Drug addict Bendall then left the bodies in the house to go into Sheffield to exchange 13-year-old John’s Xbox for some drugs, the court heard.

In an exchange with a taxi driver on the night, a recording of which was played to the court, Bendall said he had been “just chilling with the family” earlier in the evening.

Damien Bendall admitted the murder to police at the scene (SWNS)

He returned back to Chandos Crescent, Killamarsh, after 6am on Sunday and called his mother, before heading out again to buy tobacco.

His mother called the police and told them her son had suffered a self-inflicted wound. When the police arrived at the house they were met by the 32-year-old, who told them he had “killed four people”.

In a police interview after his arrest, Bendall told officers: “The whole house is covered in claret. I used the hammer. I didn’t realise what I did until I walked into my room and saw my missus and my daughter.”

He added: “Bet you don’t usually get four murders in Killamarsh do you – well, five [murders] because my missus was having a baby.”

Only hours before the killings, the children had been selling sweets outside their house to raise money for Cancer Research, the prosecution told the court.

Connie Gent also died in the incident (PA)

Flowers near to the scene in Chandos Crescent, Killamarsh (PA)

Bendall’s defence lawyers told the court that he wanted to be sentenced to a whole-life order and he had expressed “genuine remorse” for his actions.

They said: “The defendant hopes the knowledge he will be serving a full life sentence behind bars for the rest of his life and that every day he is having to confront and live with the demons of his actions he hopes this will provide some justice to these families.”

Reacting to the sentence, Detective Inspector Mark Shaw, who helped lead the investigation, said: “The level of force and violence which was used in these attacks show they were carried out with one intention, and that was to take the lives of Terri, John-Paul, Lacey and Connie.

“They had all, by the nature of their relationship, come to trust Bendall and he took the opportunity to shatter that trust and carry out the horrendous acts.”