Knifeman 'killed model for sex' in her own driveway

The jury were warned they would have to see shocking photographs of the 18-year-old's stripped and butchered body.

Prosecutor Brian Altman said this was because pub chef Mark Dixie was denying murder and had put forward a "desperate defence".

Dixie admits having sex with Miss Bowman as she lay in a pool of blood - but claims she was already dead when he found her, said Mr Altman.

Sally Anne was attacked at about 4.20am as she returned to her home in Blenheim Crescent, Croydon, after a night out with her boyfriend Lewis Sproston who dropped her off yards from the house.

She was bitten and knifed several times with such force that the blade passed right through her body.

Miss Bowman suffered severe sexual molestation before and after death, the Old Bailey heard.

DNA found on her body matched Dixie and his bite marks were found on her cheek and neck. His bloodied fingerprint was on her shoe.

Dixie, 37, of no fixed address, pleads not guilty to murdering Miss Bowman in September 2005. Mr Altman, opening the trial, said: "Her murder was motivated by sex. Her killer murdered her for his sexual gratification and the killer was Mark Dixie." Mr Altman added: "Mark Dixie admits that he had sex with her after her death but denies that he is the killer.

"He claims he just happened to be in Blenheim Crescent in the early hours of that morning under the influence of drink and drugs when he chanced upon her body and took advantage of the situation.

"He says that somebody else stabbed her to death. That, astonishingly, is his defence to the charge of murder he faces - you may conclude it is a defence born of desperation for all too obvious reasons."

Mr Altman told the seven-man, five-woman jury: "I cannot spare you the details of this horrific attack, including photographs showing the grim reality of what happened. They are shocking but they are designed not to shock but inform." He said: "Details of how she was killed and the state in which she was left are highly relevant to Dixie's defence and the prosecution's utter rejection of it."

Sally Anne was one of four daughters and lived in a room she rented in Blenheim Crescent. She was described by her sisters as "opinionated, sometimes argumentative, single-minded as well as focused but warm and kind-hearted".

After leaving school with qualifications in theatre, drama, maths and English, she was awarded a place at the Brit School of performing arts. Although she worked as a hairdresser, she yearned to be a model and had already taken part in fashion shoots, attracting the attention of a major model agency.

The trial continues.