05/03/2008

Man Found Guilty Of 'First Date' Murder

A man has been found guilty of murdering a woman on his first date with her.

Fitness instructor Karl Taylor, 27, of Covent Garden, central London had denied murdering Kate Beagley in May last year.

The 32-year-old Centrica manager from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey was not seen again after meeting Taylor for a drink.

Her naked body was found four days later, dumped in nettles in Oxhey Wood in Hertfordshire. She had 31 stab wounds to her face and neck. Taylor had driven her body there in her grey VW Gold car, which Taylor later stole.

Taylor had told the Old Bailey that Miss Beagley had committed suicide in front him using a knife he had dropped.

However, the prosecution said that he had taken a knife with him on the date and attacked Miss Beagley as they sat on a park bench at a beauty spot overlooking the River Thames in Richmond, southwest London. Taylor then attacked Miss Beagley when she refused to hand over the keys to her car, before dumping her clothing and unwanted belongings on the M1 and returning to London, where he later sold her mobile phone to a friend, the court heard.

Taylor has been sentenced to life imprisonment and will have to serve at least 30 years.

(KMcA/JM)


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