First date killer jailed for life

Jailing him for life at the Old Bailey, Judge Giles Forrester told Karl Taylor: "You are arrogant, manipulative and highly dangerous."

Miss Beagley, a 32-year-old manager for Centrica, had 31 stab wounds to her face and neck when her naked body was found.

Cheers erupted from the public gallery when the jury returned a guilty verdict after two hours of deliberations.

Friends and family had launched a frantic internet search for Miss Beagley of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, during the four days she was missing after meeting Taylor, 27, for a drink.

Taylor was arrested and led police to the body dumped in nettles in Oxhey Wood, north of London.

She had been driven there by him in the boot of her grey VW Golf car which Taylor told police he had intended to steal when he met Miss Beagley.

She was killed in a frenzied attack as they sat on a park bench at a beauty spot overlooking the River Thames in Richmond, south west London.

The court was told Taylor later threw the murder weapon, her clothing and unwanted belongings on the roadside by the M1. He later showed off his "new car" to friends and family and sold Miss Beagley's mobile phone to a friend.

In court, Taylor, of Covent Garden, London, denied the murder last May claiming Miss Beagley had committed suicide in front of him by prodding her head forward on to the knife after tearfully telling him of her problems.