British police arrest man on suspicion of crossbow murders of 3 women near London

LONDON (AP) — British police have arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of killing two sisters and their mother in a crossbow attack.

In a statement Friday, Hertfordshire Police said that the suspect remains in a serious condition in hospital.

Police previously said that Kyle Clifford was captured on Wednesday following a near day-long manhunt in a cemetery near his home in Enfield, around 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the scene of the crimes.

The three women — the family of a well-known BBC commentator —- were found with serious injuries at their home in the quiet residential neighborhood of Bushey, northeast of the capital, on Tuesday evening. Police and ambulance crews tried to save Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, but they were pronounced dead at the scene.

The women were the wife and two daughters of BBC radio’s sports commentator John Hunt, the main horse racing commentator for BBC 5 Live, the corporation’s news and sports radio channel. His voice is known to millions through his coverage of the world famous Grand National and The Derby.

Officers who found Clifford took him away on a stretcher from Lavender Hill Cemetery with undisclosed injuries. Police said no shots had been fired.

Police officers at the scene in Ashlyn Close where three women were killed in a crossbow attack at their home, on Tuesday, in Bushey, England, Thursday, July 11, 2024. A man suspected of killing the wife and daughters of a BBC radio sports commentator with a crossbow is being treated in a hospital after being found injured in a cemetery. Kyle Clifford is suspected of attacking Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Hannah, 28 and Louise, 25. They were found dead at their home in Bushey, a suburban community northwest of London. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Police officers at the scene in Ashlyn Close where three women were killed in a crossbow attack at their home, on Tuesday, in Bushey, England, Thursday, July 11, 2024. A man suspected of killing the wife and daughters of a BBC radio sports commentator with a crossbow is being treated in a hospital after being found injured in a cemetery. Kyle Clifford is suspected of attacking Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Hannah, 28 and Louise, 25. They were found dead at their home in Bushey, a suburban community northwest of London. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

A forensic officer at the scene in Ashlyn Close, Bushey, after an incident on Tuesday evening, in Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow after three women were killed in a house near London. Hertfordshire Police said Kyle Clifford, 26, was being sought over the suspected triple murder. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Police tape surrounds the scene in Ashlyn Close, after an incident on Tuesday evening, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow on Wednesday after three women were killed in a house near London. The BBC said the women killed were the family of its main radio racing commentator John Hunt. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

This is an undated photo issued by Hertfordshire Police on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 of Kyle Clifford, who is being sought in connection with the suspected killing of three women, which potentially involved a crossbow and other weapons, in Bushey, England. British police were hunting for Kyle Clifford, believed to be armed with a crossbow on Wednesday after three women were killed in a house near London. (Hertfordshire Police/via AP)

A view of the entrance to Lavender cemetery in Enfield, north London where triple murder suspect Kyle Clifford, 26, was found by officers on Wednesday afternoon, July 10, 2024. British police said they found Wednesday the man suspected of killing the wife and two daughters of a well-known BBC radio commentator near London in a brutal crossbow attack. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Police at the scene in Ashlyn Close, after an incident on Tuesday evening, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow on Wednesday after three women were killed in a house near London. The BBC said the women killed were the family of its main radio racing commentator John Hunt. (James Manning/PA via AP)

Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson of Hertfordshire Police speaks to media outside Hatfield Police Station after an incident in Bushey on Tuesday evening, in Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow after three women were killed in a house near London. Hertfordshire Police said Kyle Clifford, 26, was being sought over the suspected triple murder. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Police and emergency services at the scene in Ashlyn Close, after an incident on Tuesday evening, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow on Wednesday after three women were killed in a house near London. The BBC said the women killed were the family of its main radio racing commentator John Hunt. (James Manning/PA via AP)

Police and emergency services at the scene in Ashlyn Close, after an incident on Tuesday evening, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. British police were hunting for a man believed to be armed with a crossbow on Wednesday after three women were killed in a house near London. The BBC said the women killed were the family of its main radio racing commentator John Hunt. (James Manning/PA via AP)

PARIS (AP) — For powerful men in France’s film industry, this was a week of reckoning. Gérard Depardieu — the country’s most famous male actor — was convicted of sexual assault. Two days later, the Cannes Film Festival barred another actor accused of rape from walking the red carpet.

Together, the decisions sent a message that France had long resisted: that artistic brilliance may no longer shield those who abuse their power.

For decades, Depardieu was revered as French cinema’s “sacred monster” — a towering talent whose gluttony, volatility and magnetism became part of his myth. With more than 250 films to his name, many believed he would remain untouchable even after more than 20 women accused him of sexual misconduct.

Now, that myth has cracked.

The verdict has revived a broader question France has ducked since the dawn of #MeToo: Can a country that celebrates seduction and irreverence finally hold its male icons to account?

France has long lived its own #MeToo contradiction. That talent, charm, or intellect forgives misconduct. That the art excuses the artist. This is the land that gave the world Brigitte Bardot’s pout and Catherine Deneuve’s poise — and then watched both recoil when the movement came knocking. Deneuve has defended “the right" to seduce, while Bardot has dismissed feminism outright: “I like men.”

But the ground is shifting — fast.

Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence Tuesday for groping two women on a 2021 film set. He denies the charges and is appealing.

“It’s the end of impunity of artists with a capital A,” Carine Durrieu Diebolt, a lawyer for one of the two women who won their case against Depardieu, told The Associated Press. The verdict represented “a bookend for putting actors on a pedestal because they were talented,” she added.

Two days later, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival barred actor Théo Navarro-Mussy — accused of rape by three former partners — from attending the premiere of a film he stars in, even though the file was dropped for lack of evidence. The women are launching a civil complaint.

Navarro-Mussy denies wrongdoing. His lawyer said that she’s unaware of any ongoing proceedings against him.

What stunned wasn’t just the decision, but who made it. Cannes director Thierry Frémaux had long been seen as emblematic of the old guard. He defended Roman Polanski for years and continued to screen his films despite the director’s 1977 guilty plea in the U.S. for sex with a 13-year-old. In 2018, when asked why Cannes still included Polanski, Frémaux said: “These are complicated matters.”

Frémaux opened 2023's festival with a film starring Johnny Depp, despite the actor’s highly public legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard over allegations of domestic abuse, in which he was never criminally charged. When asked about the backlash, Frémaux replied: “I only have one rule: it’s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.”

This week, the rules changed.

“The Cannes decision is of course linked to the Depardieu verdict,” said Céline Piques of Osez le féminisme (“Dare Feminism!”), a group that campaigns against sexual violence. “(They’ve) realized which way the wind is blowing. Frémaux is trying to right the wrongs.”

Not everyone welcomed the verdict — or what followed — as a cultural turning point.

Fanny Ardant, one of French cinema’s grandes dames and a longtime friend of Depardieu, sat on his side in court. She is now directing him in a film in Portugal, despite the conviction.

“Fanny Ardant? She completely missed the point,” said Piques. “She downplayed the violence, normalized it. That’s rape culture, plain and simple.”

Juliette Binoche, Cannes jury president and one of France’s most respected actors, struck a note of restraint: “He’s not a monster. He’s a man — one who has, apparently, been desacralized.”

Her caution captured something deeper: a country caught between the urge to change and the instinct to protect its giants.

In 2024, more than 22,000 rapes were reported in France. Fewer than 3% led to convictions. “The Depardieu verdict shows there’s progress,” said lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens, who works with victims of sexual assault. “But for most women, the barriers to justice remain enormous.”

When Bertrand Cantat — front man of Noir Désir and once one of France’s bestselling rock singers — launched a 2018 comeback tour, he had served just four years in prison for killing his partner, actor Marie Trintignant, during a violent assault.

Despite public outrage, he returned to the stage and performed.

“That would be unthinkable today,” said Piques. “The public mood has changed. What we tolerate has changed.”

One breakthrough came not from a film set, but an Avignon courtroom. The conviction of 51 men for drugging and raping Gisele Pelicot — a case long ignored despite her pleas — marked a turning point. For years, shame was hers. Now, it belongs to the perpetrators.

“It proved rapists aren’t just strangers in alleys,” said Piques. “They’re husbands. Colleagues. Respected men.”

That shift in shame is now rippling through the cultural world — once seen as a bastion of male privilege. Recently. director Christophe Ruggia was convicted of abusing actor Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, though he is appealing; and actor-director Nicolas Bedos, was sentenced for sexual assault.

Slowly but surely, yes. The system that long protected men like Depardieu is not yet dismantled, but it is shifting.

As one of the actor’s accusers said through tears after the ruling: “I’m very, very much satisfied with the decision. That’s a victory for me, really. And a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.”

FILE - French actor Gerard Depardieu, left, and Belgian actress Cecile de France pose during a photo call for the film "Quand J'etais Chanteur," at the 59th International film festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 26, 2006. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)