Search

06 Sept 2025

Man admits murdering mother and three children

Man admits murdering mother and three children

A man has admitted murdering a mother and three children whose bodies were found at a house in Derbyshire.

Damien Bendall, 32, who had previously admitted manslaughter, pleaded guilty to murdering his 35-year-old partner Terri Harris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her son John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, also 11, at the home he shared with Ms Harris.

Bendall entered the guilty pleas at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday.

He also admitted raping Lacey during what prosecuting KC Louis Mably KC told the court were “brutal, vicious and cruel attacks on a defenceless woman” and young children.

Ms Harris and the children were found dead at a house in Chandos Crescent, Killamarsh, in north-east Derbyshire, near Sheffield, on September 19 last year.

Bendall will be sentenced later on Wednesday.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.