Fitness instructor Karl Taylor has been found guilty of murdering Kate Beagley.

Taylor, 27, of Covent Garden, had denied murdering the Walton businesswoman on their first date last May.

He has been sentenced to life and will spend no less than 30 years behind bars.

Miss Beagley, 32, from Nelson Close, was found dead in woodland in June last year.

She had been stabbed 31 times in the face, neck and throat.

Taylor has claimed Miss Beagley stabbed herself using a knife he dropped.

Sentencing Taylor, Judge Giles Forrester said he had formed a clear opinion of him duting the course of the trial.

He said: "You are arrogant and you are highly dangerous.

"I am satisfied that this is a murder done for gain and you went to meet this girl armed with a knife.

"She was doing nothing more than looking to you for friendship."

Taylor interruped the judge as he accused him of taking advantage of Miss Beagley's vulnerability shouting: "No, I did not your honour."

Judge Forrester said he hoped today's sentence would go some way to help Miss Beagley's family in their grief.

After sentencing, Kate's dad Alan Beagley spoke on behalf of her family and friends.

He said: "The worst episode of our lives has today reached a conclusion within the judicial system, but we now have to piece together our lives around the void left by the shattering loss of Kate, remembering the positive effect she had on all of us."

Karl Taylor caught on CCTV