"First date" killer jailed for woman's murder

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By Andrew Hough

LONDON (Reuters) - A London fitness instructor was jailed for life on Wednesday after he went on a first date armed with a carving knife and murdered a Surrey businesswoman by stabbing her more than 30 times.

Karl Taylor, 27, was told by Old Bailey judge Giles Forrester that he would not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years for Kate Beagley’s brutal murder.

The 32 year-old, of Walton-on-Thames, was stabbed in the face and neck during her date with Taylor, the court was told.

The British Gas sales manager’s naked body was found in stinging nettles near Watford, Hertfordshire, almost a week after she was reported missing by her father.

Taylor, of Covent Garden, central London, had told police he had only meant to steal the woman’s car after they had argued during their date.

He had denied murder, telling the jury that it was Beagley who repeatedly stabbed herself in the face and neck in front of him after revealing she was having personal problems.

Beagley’s corpse was so badly decomposed, because of the hot summer weather, she could only be identified by DNA testing.

Prosecutors said Taylor, who also worked as a football coach, met his victim in the CC Club at the Trocadero in Piccadilly on May 20 last year.

After dancing they arranged another meeting, with their first .....continued below

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After their first drink, Beagley -- described as "well-travelled, with a great sense of adventure" by friends and family -- drove Taylor to Richmond Hill where they had another drink. They then walked to a bench overlooking the River Thames, where she met her death.

"Blood was found on the bench and surrounding grass. Relying on what Taylor said to police, he claims they had an argument and he stabbed her in the neck," prosecutor Peter Clarke told the court during his opening address. "He then dragged or carried her body to the boot of her car"

He then dumped her body in the nettles at the side of a car park, the court was told.

After her father, Alan, had reported her missing, Taylor was traced and interviewed, where he could not offer an explanation for the killing. Her friends later launched a missing person’s appeal on Facebook.

Outside court Alan Beagley spoke of his family’s "shattering loss", saying their lives had been "turned upside down".

"The cruel and sudden loss of Kate has had an overwhelming impact on her family and friends and I speak for us all when I say our lives will never be the same again," he said in a statement after sentencing.

"Our family has been devastated and life seems empty and meaningless without Kate."

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Preston-Heard, the senior investigating officer from Surrey Police, said: "Kate was a totally innocent young woman who had her life cut short when she had so much to live for."

(Editing by Jeremy Lovell)