Man jailed for killing woman on first date

A fitness trainer was jailed for life today for murdering a woman on their first date.

Kate Beagley, 32, was killed in a frenzied attack as she sat on a park bench at a beauty spot overlooking the river Thames in May last year.

Her naked body was found four days later with 31 stab wounds to the face and neck.

Today at the Old Bailey, Karl Taylor, 27, of Covent Garden, central London, was found guilty of her murder and told he must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.

After his arrest, Taylor led police to Beagley's body dumped in nettles in Oxhey Wood, north of London.

He had driven her there in the boot of her grey VW Golf car, which Taylor told police he had intended to steal when he met her.

The trial heard Taylor had gone on the date armed with a knife, which he placed up his sleeve as he sat with Beagley in the Roebuck pub in Richmond Hill, south-west London.

Taylor claimed in court she committed suicide in front of him by prodding her head forward on to his knife after telling him of her problems.

He demonstrated her actions using an envelope instead of a knife, and told the jury: "I realised she passed away. I was crying profusely. I lay on the grass and looked at the sky."

The pair had met days earlier at a club in central London and exchanged phone numbers.

During their date, Beagley, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, appeared to be ignoring him, the court was told.

Peter Clarke QC, prosecuting, said Taylor told police he stabbed Beagley during an argument after telling her: "All I want is your car."

He told police: "She pushed me away. She was grabbing me and I stabbed her in the throat. I constantly and consistently cut her in the neck because she was going for my face."

Taylor removed her clothes and washed her body with mineral water before dumping it, the court heard. He later showed off the car to friends and family, and sold Beagley's mobile phone to a friend.

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