Monster who killed pregnant lover and 3 children on sleepover given £122,000 in taxpayer-funded Legal Aid
A MONSTER who killed his pregnant lover and three children in a sleepover benefited from £122,000 in taxpayer-funded legal aid.
The money went to Damien Bendall’s lawyers, although he admitted to the murders.
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He was handed a life sentence after a court heard him use a claw hammer to smash the skulls of Terri Harris, 35, her son John Paul Bennett, 13, her daughter Lacey Bennett and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, both 11 had.
Bendall, 33, who was high on cocaine and cannabis, also admitted to raping Lacey “while her life was winding down”.
He never explained the 2021 attacks in Killamarsh, Derbys.
Payment details were released by the Department of Justice under Freedom of Information laws.
Bendall’s solicitors were paid £73,000 while he was provided £49,000 as a solicitor at Derby Crown Court.
Bendall originally admitted manslaughter but denied murder and rape.
He called for unnecessary hospital tests to delay the case and claimed to have been injured from cage fighting – despite having no experience of fighting.
Then, 15 months after the horrific attacks, Bendall admitted all allegations.
It was later revealed that Bendall was serving a suspended sentence at the time of the murders for setting a car on fire three months earlier.
A report found errors by the parole service, which had classified Bendall as low-risk, leaving him free to kill.
David Spencer of the Center for Crime Prevention said: “Everyone deserves legal representation.
“But when someone like Bendall has already pleaded guilty, it’s extraordinary that the taxpayer is still coming up with a six-figure sum.”
