The heartbroken father of murdered schoolgirl Connie Gent has positioned a floral tribute in his window as a substitute of Christmas decorations as he referred to as for her killer to obtain the demise penalty.
Connie and her faculty good friend Lacey Bennett, each 11, had been murdered by drug addict Damien Bendall, together with Lacey’s mom Terri Harris and brother John Paul, 13.
Heavy hashish person Bendall, 32, was jailed for all times on Wednesday for the murders and the rape of a kid in Killamarsh, Derbyshire final yr.
Right now it emerged that Connie’s grieving father Charles Gent, 37, has displayed Connie’s funeral wreath spelling out her title in his window, adorned with fairy lights, in reminiscence of his daughter.
Connie Gent, 11, was murdered by drug addict Damien Bendall in Killamarsh final yr
Connie’s grieving father Charles Gent, 37, has displayed Connie’s funeral wreath spelling out her title in his window
A neighbour mentioned: ‘The poor bloke is admittedly struggling and all of us really feel for him. Clearly he cannot rejoice something this Christmas, however placing his little woman’s title within the window says all of it.’
In the meantime, in a latest Fb publish, DJ Charles wrote that Bendall ought to obtain the demise penalty for killing his daughter.
At Derby Crown Courtroom yesterday, wicked Bendall lastly admitted homicide and raping schoolgirl Lacey through the assault in September 2021.
Prosecutor Louis Mably KC mentioned Bendall – who as soon as boasted about killing a canine with a brick – murdered every sufferer in a distinct room in the home with a claw hammer.
He mentioned Lacey was raped as she lay dying, including: ‘The circumstances are actually hideous. Terri was within the early levels of being pregnant.
‘It seems the defendant went round the home searching for them and attacking them every in flip.
‘These had been brutal, vicious and merciless assaults on a defenceless lady and three younger youngsters.
‘The defendant attacked them utilizing a claw hammer which he used to hit them over the top and on the higher physique.
‘It was completely clear not one of the victims stood an opportunity.’
Terri had first moved to Killamarsh in September 2020 and had tried to maintain the handle secret from Bendall, who she had first met on a relationship web site in April of that yr.
Bendall was jailed for all times on Wednesday after admitting to the 4 murders in a drug-fuelled rampage
Lacey Bennett, 11, (left), John, 13, (proper), and their mom Terri Harris, 35, had been additionally murdered by Bendall within the sickening rampage
However by August 2021 she instructed a good friend she and the defendant had been making an attempt for a child and at round this time she instructed her mom she supposed to marry him.
On the day of the assaults the youngsters had put up a stall exterior the home promoting sweets to boost cash for Most cancers Analysis.
Phone proof, together with texts, helped clarify the sequence of occasions and sheds gentle on the deteriorating relationship between Bendall and Terri.
Mr Mably mentioned: ‘One piece of proof is a bit dated from September 16, simply earlier than the weekend in query, when a neighbour was on the pavement in Chandos Crescent and was simply throughout the highway from the home when she noticed the defendant leaving the property and shout ‘this isn’t completed but.’
‘The witness thought on the time she would not let somebody communicate to her in that trend.’
Yesterday, Lacey and John Paul’s father Jason Bennett additionally spoke of his agony, saying: ‘The homicide of my two youngsters has destroyed me and brought my life away.
‘I am unable to kiss them and inform them I really like them and now I’ve nothing to battle for.
‘I was afraid of dying now I am not scared in any respect I simply need the ache I really feel to finish.
‘John and Lacey had been harmless and I can’t comprehend why somebody would take harmless lives.’
