Damien Bendall: Hammer-wielding Killamarsh child murderer 'attacks inmate with hammer in prison'

A rapist from Killamarsh who killed three children and his girlfriend with a hammer has reportedly left a prison inmate fighting for their life - after bludgeoning him with a hammer.

Damien Bendall murdered Terri Harris, aged 35, her children John Paul Bennett, 13, and Lacey, 11, and Lacey's friend Connie Gent, also 11, during a sleepover at their home in Chandos Cresent in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, on September 18, 2021.

A horrified court heard in December 2022 how Bendall went room to room that night and took the lives of all four with a claw hammer. He also raped 11-year-old Lacey during the rampage as she lay dying. He was given a whole-life order at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Now, several national newspapers are reporting that an inmate at the Durham prison is now fighting for his life after being attacked by Bendall - using a claw hammer.

The 34-year-old allegedly attacked the fellow prisoner with a hammer during a workshop, hitting him three to four times over the head.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for Durham Constabulary only said: “Enquiries remain ongoing”.

LBC News reports that the The Prison Service has said: "We cannot comment on a live police investigation but prisoners who are violent face tough punishments."

In October 2023, an inquest found a series of "very stark" failures by the probation service contributed to the murders of Terri, John-Paul, Lacey and Connie.

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On the morning of Bendall’s arrest, police attended the property on Chandos Crescent after Bendall had spoken to his mother and she had been concerned because he had suffered a self-inflicted stab wound, and as officers arrived he also called 999.

Bendall told the police call handler: “I need the police and an ambulance because I just killed four people”, and he added, “I do not know why. It was like I was outside my body looking in.”

Mr Mably said a police officer found the bodies of the four deceased throughout the property after meeting Bendall outside and this officer was heard via body worn camera footage played in court saying "Massive head wounds. They are gone. They are gone. They are all gone.”

Bendall told police: "I bet you don't get four murders in Killamarsh do you. Well, I mean five because my Missus was having a baby.”

At court, relatives of the deceased stated their lives had been left in pieces and they described Bendall’s actions as ‘monumental brutality’ and one referred to Bendall as ‘truly evil’.

The judge – Mr Justice Nigel Sweeney – sentenced Bendall to a ‘whole life sentence’ which means he will remain incarcerated for the remainder of his life.