Stanley Elliott killed Geoffrey and Michelle Hibbert when they returned from a night out.
Image source, Hampshire Constabulary
A babysitter who murdered a married couple in a “frenzied” stabbing while their young son slept in his room has been jailed for a minimum of 34 years.
Stanley Elliott, 53, attacked Geoffrey and Michelle Hibbert at their home in Basingstoke after they arrived back from a night out on 20 June last year.
Passing a life sentence at Winchester Crown Court, the judge said it was an “angry” attack on “defenceless people”.
Elliott was found guilty of their murders following a trial.
Image source, Getty Images
The court heard he had inflicted 58 wounds on Mr Hibbert and also turned the knife on his victim’s wife as she called 999.
A recording of the emergency call was played to the court in which Mrs Hibbert, 29, could be heard pleading for her and her 61-year-old husband’s lives.
Judge Mr Justice Garnham said the attack began shortly after the couple arrived at their home in Buckland Avenue in the early hours of the morning.
‘Two defenceless people’
He said he believed the violence was likely to have been linked to an argument between Mr Hibbert and Elliott over who should take the blame for a recent burglary at a bingo hall.
The judge said: “This must have been the most dreadful and terrifying of deaths for Geoff and Michelle.
“You had armed yourself with a kitchen knife and used it again and again and again on your friends.
“They each knew you were stabbing their spouse.”
He added that the jury had had to listen to the 999 call from Mrs Hibbert many times during the trial.
“It is something I suspect they will never forget,” he told Elliott.
“This was a prolonged, angry and frenzied knife attack by you on two defenceless people that caused them both great pain and led eventually to their deaths.”
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.
- 25 February