This is one of those horrendous cases that just gets worse and worse the more you get into the sickening details of it. I had this case requested by one of my readers last year and as I sat down the other night to do my research to finally cover it, I felt sick every time my pen hit my pad as I took my notes. I was determined to see it through though as difficult as that is and share this story with you, for those who have not heard about it. I warn you to brace yourself for this because I can't even put into words the pure evil that is pictured above in this post. Those eyes...those cold, dead, soulless eyes that belong to Damien Bendall.
That name might ring a bell to those of my readers and friends that live here in the UK but further afield you might be not be familiar with this particular monster until this moment. As we move through the post (as I stated in the beginning) the details shared will become more difficult and I understand if you cannot continue further, I just wanted to warn you before proceeding. So let's take a deep breath and get into this deeply disturbing nightmare of a case....
Terri Harris was a beautiful, kind and caring 35 year old woman who worked very hard in her role as a careworker looking after vulnerable people at a care facility. It was always in her nature to help others and was always the type of friend who would give you advice and support when times were hard. She was also a very loving mother to her two children, Lacey and John-Paul. Originally a London girl with a huge obsession with the football team 'West Ham', Terri had a great sense of humour and was both a girly girl and a bit of a tom boy too. Never one to shy away from hardwork she also taught her children how to appreciate the little things in life as well as the importance of manners.
When Terri was 17 she moved to Sheffield with her mother and it must have been quite a difference for her from London. Being the outgoing and bubbly girl that she was it didn't take that long for her to settle in and make friends as well as a romantic interest. Terri met a handsome young man named Jason Bennett and the pair fell deeply in love and eventually married, having the two beautiful children, Lacey and John-Paul. The couple had been through a lot together in their 15 years, you could say that they also grew up together but sadly as some situations can go, they began to drift apart although they still cared about each other. It got to the point that they both decided that the marriage was no longer going to work but they were determined to remain friends and do their best for the children. Jason was in regular contact with Lacey and John-Paul and they were able to work things out where, despite the breakdown of the marriage, the children still felt that they could have a close, regular relationship with their father.
Whilst I was doing my research about this case, I had various things going through my mind but I did think a lot about Jason and how all of what later happened must have affected him (and obviously still affects him to this very day). There was this beautiful woman who he fell in love with, married, spend years with and had two adorable children with and then.....the most unthinkable, horrendous nightmare of events that came later. Jason lost so much in the most horrendously cruel and evil way. I cannot even begin to imagine what he must be going through.
So, Terri found herself now a single mother of 2 children at the age of 35 and she was still wanting to have a romantic life which is understandable, she worked hard, did her best for the children and she just wanted some fun time for herself. Lacey was like a little doll at just 11 years old with beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair, she was like a little star, a Diva in the making. She enjoyed acting, performing and dancing. She loved to attend dance classes and was a very loving and giving child. John-Paul was more laid back but wore his heart on his sleeve, always well mannered and polite. There was no mistake about it, Terri and Jason had done a wonderful job raiding these two amazing children. Lacy and John-Paul were close too, they may have had little disagreements here and there but on the whole they surprisingly got on really well for a brother and sister, they were very good at sharing and being patient with each other.
Terri had been working so hard and missed the feeling of romance in her life and had talked to friends who were members of an online dating site. She was nervous at first but decided to take the plunge and sign up, not knowing what to expect. As predicted she did get some creepy messages and didn't think it was going to be worth the bother but then one guy looked quite promising....a guy who she thought was quite attractive, who loved football (a different team to her beloved West Ham but that didn't bother her), seemed to be a bit of a joker, a charmer and very much a masculine man. He had tattoos and knew what to say to her to get the butterflies going in her stomach. As the weeks went on the feelings and attraction was obviously mutual and it went from messages on the site to phone calls and texts to meeting for dates.
In person 31 year old Damien Bendall was all stories and 'Jack The Lad' persona but this excited Terri, he had a bit of a 'bad boy' streak about him and would brag about certain things that he had supposedly done in the past. What Terri didn't know about him was that he was full of hot air to put it politely. He didn't tell her the real truth about himself or his 'real' past but he loved to brag that he was a bit of a hard case and if anyone dare upset him three times then it would be the last thing they ever did. A lot of people who knew him described him as very much a 'plastic gangster' who had watched the movie 'The Football Factory' one too many times and fancied himself as bit of a Danny Dyer type of guy. It was all a bit pathetic to be honest and does make one wonder what on earth Terri saw in him but he was good at saying the right things to make her feel good.
Red flags were there for all to see from day one but for some reason Terri chose to brush them aside and I mean that as no disrespect to her. Sometimes when you fall in love you kinda let some things slide but some of the red flags were too shocking to ignore but she believed that she could change him. He bragged about being a Chelsea Football Club fan and had tattoos dedicated to the club as well as scarves and T-shirts. His knuckles were tattooed 'True Blue' as a tribute to the team....all of this but he'd never actually set foot in the club's grounds! Even more disturbing was his legs were covered in Nazi tattoos, he was obsessed with Nazis but when asked a question about Nazi Germany during WW2 he had no clue how to answer, he had absolutely no idea of the history of the Nazis or Germany but he like to pose because he thought the tattoos made him look like a hard man.
Damien Bendall was a fantasist who just made ridiculous stories up about himself as he went along. The truth was, that he was a pathetic career criminal who had been committing petty crime since childhood. He was involved in numerous thefts and committed acts of arson for which he was in and out of prison. One of the most horrific facts of his past which demonstrates the sheer evil and sick mind of this monster (and a horrible taste of what he was capable of) was his attitude towards animals. A friend of his had a dog who was very ill and he couldn't afford to take the animal to a vet. Damien offered to sort out his friend's dilemma by offering to kill the dog. He said ''I'll do it for free....with a brick.''
The evil and sick monster killed the dog with the brick and acted like the whole thing was no problem.
Terri and Damien were growing closer very fast and couldn't keep their hands off of each other so it was no surprise when she fell pregnant. Terri's mother and friends were very concerned because they'd not long met online and she'd fallen very hard and fast for him and now she was pregnant. Despite concerns from those closest to her, Terri decided to follow her heart and moved from Sheffield with the children to a place called Killamarsh in Derbyshire into a house with Damien. So basically in a matter of months, they'd met online, met up, fell in love, Terri fell pregnant and now they were all moving in together, all in the space of 5 months. Despite the red flags, Nazi tattoo's on the legs, things not adding up and......the fact that Damien was a serious drug addict didn't seem to fan any flames for Terri. Damien was taking drugs at various points of the day, it wasn't just a social habit, he needed a hit first thing in the morning and he also had alcohol issues too. He had been having issues with hard drugs and alcohol since his teens. He was also prone to mood swings especially if he couldn't get high. It's not known to what level Terri was privy to this but living with someone 24/7 you would think that she would have an idea but none of us know how the situation played out, he may have taken drugs in the bathroom away from the family, who knows?
Terri knew he had issues and to what extent remains unclear but she told loved ones and friends that she wanted to help him. He was always in and out of trouble and ended up getting on the wrong side of the law again after committing another act of arson. He was placed on probation and had a tag on his ankle to monitor him for curfew. He was bailed to Terri's address and this was a huge, terrifying mistake because Damien Bendall was a ticking timebomb who was continuing to spiral without the drugs. He attended regular meetings with his probation officer and several warning signs were not noted especially when he threatened that he would murder Terri and her children if the relationship was ever to turn sour. He was a highly dangerous individual and a real threat to Terri and the children but despite his unhinged behaviour and terrifying outbursts and threats, he was deemed 'medium risk' instead of 'high risk'. In reality, Damien Bendall should have been locked up but they just let him walk out, it was a pathetic and downright dangerous thing for the probation team to do. It wasn't just the one officer who dealt with him, there was others too and all of them turned a blind eye.
So Damien Bendall was in the house with Terri, Lacey, John-Paul and Lacey's friend Connie on the evening of the 18th of September 2021. It was a typical Saturday night and the girls had been out in the park earlier. They had set up a little stall trying to sell sweets to help raise money for Cancer Research. Connie Gent was also just 11 years old and a very good friend of Lacey's. The girls had similar personalities and loved to do things to help other people. Connie was invited to stay over at the house that night and the girls were getting ready to go to the bedroom. John-Paul was getting ready to go to his room too. As the children were getting ready for bed, Damien Bendall was downstairs pacing the floor trying to call his drug dealer over and over again and getting more frustrated. He'd been taking drugs all day long and had run out of them, he wanted cocaine.
For some horrendous reason Damien Bendall picked up a claw hammer and decided he was going to go on a sickening rampage in that house. He attacked his pregnant partner Terri brutally smashing her skull with the claw hammer. The scene was later described as a bloodbath. He then marched upstairs and found 13 year old John-Paul in the bathroom, the poor little boy enduring the same horrific fate as his mother and unborn brother/sister. He then made his way to where the girls were and using the same method, he murdered 11 year old Connie before turning his attentions to Lacey. Both Lacey and John-Paul was later to have been found during autopsy that they had defensive wounds on their arms indicating that they tried to fight for their lives, it's unbelievably heartbreaking.
Lacey was the last to be murdered and the monster took his time with her as if he had planned it. He later told investigators another pack of lies saying that he had blacked out during the murders and had no idea what he was doing, but that sick freak knew fine well what he was doing! It was like he was acting out a sick fantasy that he had harboured in his mind for some time. Lacey was attacked with the claw hammer and whilst the poor child lay bleeding and dying from her horrific head injuries, he r*ped her, not once but twice and the second time he even placed a mirror in front of himself and Lacey so he could watch himself as he did it. He r*aped Lacey as she lay dying and then committed this horrendous and sickening act of pure evil again when she was deceased.
He cleaned himself up a little bit but still had some blood on him, he put the games console in a bag and was seen pacing about the streets trying to sell this games console. At some point he had gotten into a taxi and the driver asked him if he had been having a good night to which he replied ''Not too bad....a bit mad.''
He managed to get his hands on some drugs and made his way back to Terri's house where he tried to pathetically end his life with a bread knife but like all raving psychotic narcissists, he couldn't bring himself to do that much damage to himself. He ended up calling the police at 7:26 am that Sunday morning declaring 'I've just murdered 4 people.''
Killamarsh was not known for criminal activity, it was quite a laid back place with nothing much happening but this case shocked the local community to it's core. The police arrived at the house to find Damien Bendall sat outside wearing a long black coat looking calm. There was no red eyes, not a tear to be seen, no emotion at all. The police noticed that he had blood on him and he explained that he had harmed himself with a knife. He told the police what he had done and they called for backup. Keeping him outside, some of the police went in to check the scene and what they found was utterly horrendous. Damien was arrested and taken to the police station.
Throughout everything he never shed a tear, no apologies, no regrets. He joked about the fact that Killamarsh was not used to murder and asked if he had technically murdered five people instead of 4 because Terri was pregnant. He confessed to the murders but not the horrific r*apes. During the autopsy of Lacey's body this sickening fact was discovered with his DNA so he knew there was no getting away from that either. He confessed to everything and was charged with four counts of first degree murder and r*pe of a child under 13.
In December of 2022, Damien Bendall was given a whole life order meaning he will never leave prison alive.
Since Damien has been behind bars he has continued to be involved in trouble, in a recent incident he tried to murder a fellow inmate with a hammer. He is set to begin his attempted murder trial in March this year (2026 at time of writing).
The horrendous failing of the probation staff was called into question and a thorough investigation took place where over 50 failings were found. Apparently they have made a lot of huge changes and spent millions on training, hiring new staff and changing procedures to ensure that this never happens again. Let's hope that it never ever does.
RIP Terri, your unborn baby, Lacey, John-Paul and Connie. I wish you were still here and you should still be with us. My thoughts also to Jason and the families and friends of all involved. It's so difficult to know what to say but my heart is with them all.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Damien Bendall: Article | Durham Police
- Damien Bendall: Article | BBC News
- Damien Bendall: Article | The Guardian
- Killamarsh Murders | Wikipedia
- Damien Bendall: Article | The Independent
- Damien Bendall: Court Documents
This was so difficult to write about and research. I know it was a very harrowing read too and I appreciate it if you have made it this far in this post. Thank you to my reader who requested this case and I hope you will all join me in my next post. In the meantime please come say hello on my Socials
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