A Swindon man who admitted slaughtering his pregnant partner, her two children, and one of their friends has been given a rare whole-life prison sentence.
Damien Bendall, 32, who lived in Swindon at the beginning of 2021 before moving to Killamarsh, Derbyshire, initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter
He was set to face trial for murder but changed his pleas to guilty at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday, December 21.
In all, he pleaded guilty to murdering his 35-year-old partner Terri Harris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett and son John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey’s 11-year-old friend Connie Gent.
He also admitted to raping Lacey at the house in Killamarsh, near Sheffield, in 2021, during what prosecutor Louis Mably KC told the court were “brutal, vicious and cruel attacks on a defenceless woman” and young children.
It took place in September 2021 at the home he shared with Ms Harris in Killamarsh.
Warning: The following quotes contain details that readers may find distressing.
Later on Wednesday, following the hearing of Bendall's plea, High Court judge Mr Justice Sweeney sentenced him to a whole-life order on each charge - four counts of murder and one of rape.
A whole-life order is the single most severe punishment in English criminal law, it means that he will spend the rest of his life in prison, with no minimum term and no chance of early release.
Mr Justice Sweeney said that family impact statements attested in moving terms to each victim who had been “so horrifically taken away” and their families’ “utter devastation.”
The judge told Bendall: “On your behalf Bendall, 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, vicious and cruel attacks on a defenceless woman and three young children.”
The ferocity of the murders was such that the skulls of the victims were “literally smashed in”, the judge added.
The court had heard how Bendall went room-by-room and attacked each victim with a claw hammer, striking them in the head and upper body.
Mr Mably, recounting Bendall’s likely movements through the family home in Chandos Crescent, Killamarsh, said: "It appears he went around the house looking for them, attacking them each in turn, in order to kill them."
It was then said that Bendall had raped 11-year-old Lacey while she lay dying from her injuries.
Mr Mably said Lacey was likely to have been raped at least twice by Bendall.
Connie had only been due to stay over for one night, but successfully got permission from her mother, fatefully extending her stay by another night – coinciding with Bendall’s attacks, the court heard.
The court heard Bendall also “took John’s Xbox (games console), ordered a taxi, went to Sheffield”, where he then exchanged the console “for drugs”.
The killer would later tell police he had consumed “three to four bags of cocaine and then blacked out”.
“The attacks were of such ferocity, in essence their skulls were smashed in and in the case of one of the children, 11-year-old Lacey, parts of her brain matter were found on the living-room floor," Mr Mably said opening the case on Wednesday morning.
“It was perfectly clear none of the victims stood a chance.”
Giving his reaction to the whole-life order handed to Damien Bendall, the deputy chief crown prosecutor for the East Midlands, Andrew Baxter, said: “It is hard to put into words the scale of Damien Bendall’s barbaric and horrifying actions.
“He went through the house looking for the victims until he had killed them all, raping one of the children in the attack.
“What he did left two families utterly devastated by grief and a community in bewilderment and shock.
“I offer my heartfelt sympathies to the families of Terri, John-Paul and Lacey and Connie, who have suffered an unimaginable ordeal, and who still have waited patiently and with great dignity to see justice done. My thoughts are with them.
“I would also like to thank my dedicated legal team who worked tirelessly on the case to ensure this offender won’t harm anyone else.”
Before the sentencing, the court heard that Bendall, who had previous convictions for robbery, attempted robbery and grievous bodily harm had carried out the rape and murders while on a 24-month suspended sentence handed down at Swindon Crown Court in June 2021 for the arson of a car he had tried to steal.
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