Pregnant woman and three children brutally murdered by violent ex – police missed chilling warning
An ongoing inquest at Chesterfield Coroners’ Court has revealed the terrible events behind a shocking quadruple murder in Killamarsh, near Sheffield. Damien Bendall, 33, who had a violent past, warned months earlier that he would kill his pregnant girlfriend and her children – and then did just that.
Chilling threat ignored by monitoring staff
While being fitted with an electronic tag as part of probation, Bendall told an Electronic Monitoring Services (EMS) officer, “If this relationship goes bad, I’ll murder my girlfriend and children.” Horrifically, three months later he killed his pregnant partner Terri Harris, 35, her son John Paul Bennett, 13, her daughter Lacey Bennett, 11, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11, who was staying over.
The inquest is now probing how probation services assessed Bendall as low risk despite his violent history. Shockingly, the EMS officer never logged or reported the chilling threat. She later admitted she ignored it, thinking it was just an “idle comment” after being stunned by Bendall’s cold, detached delivery.
Warnings ignored amid stretched probation services
Evidence exposed that Bendall also confessed to setting fire to his ex-girlfriend’s car because he believed she cared more about it than him. Despite this, probation staff failed to act on multiple red flags.
Simon McKeown, for Capita – which runs the electronic tagging system under the Ministry of Justice contract – stressed staff are trained to report risk. He confirmed the killer’s comment should have sparked immediate action. Families’ advocate Paul Clark pressed on the duty of care, with McKeown admitting the missed warning was unacceptable.
Earlier testimony painted a bleak picture of the overworked probation officers struggling to manage Bendall, with Chief Inspector Justin Russell condemning their “unacceptable standard” and missed chances to intervene.
Killer jailed for life after appalling murders
Bendall, now serving a whole-life sentence, also pleaded guilty to raping Lacey Bennett. The grim discovery of the four victims was made at a property on Chandos Crescent on September 19, 2021.
The EMS officer is due to testify on 1 June as the court continues to investigate the catastrophic failures that allowed this violent man to slip through the net and kill his family. The inquiry aims to stop future tragedies like this unfolding.
