Man, 32, appears in court charged with raping and murdering his girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter

A 32-year-old man accused of murdering a mother and three children has appeared before a Crown Court judge for a pre-trial hearing.

Damien Bendall is alleged to have raped and murdered 11-year-old Lacey Bennett, and is accused of unlawfully killing her brother John Paul Bennett, 13, their mother Terri Harris, 35, and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, 11.

Bendall was remanded in custody at Derby Crown Court on Friday after being told his trial would now start on May 9, not May 4 as previously planned.

He was not required to enter any pleas to the charges during his appearance before Judge Nirmal Shant QC.

The murder charges allege Bendall, of Chandos Crescent, unlawfully killed all four victims on a day between Friday September 17 and Monday September 20.