Pub chef who sexually assaulted and murdered artist as she walked her spaniel near Kent beach before he took dog to shop to buy treats is jailed for 25 years
A pub chef who murdered an artist while she walked her dog on a beach before taking it to a shop to buy treats was today jailed for a minimum of 25 years.
Harrison Lawrence Van-Pooss, 21, used his chef's knife to force 54-year-old Claire Knights off a path as she walked back to her car.
He then sexually assaulted the mother of one before beating her to death and hiding her body 'face down' in a water-filled dyke.
Afterwards, the fiend went to buy her white and brown spaniel Zebulon treats as she lay dying.
A day before the murder on August 21, Van-Pooss had been fired from his job at a bar in a seaside village after being caught upskirting.
With the police alerted, he went on the run and camped out overnight by the beach, where he attacked Ms Knights as she was returning from a swim.
Neither of them had met before and she was targeted entirely randomly. When he was arrested by police for upskirting, he said he had never seen Ms Knights.
Prior to his sentencing, Ms Knights' family left the court in disgust as a letter was read out from the killer claiming she 'had not died in pain and suffering'. He also said that he would 'never forgive myself'.
Hours before the murder, Van-Pooss was seen on CCTV visiting a shop to buy snacks, including sweets, a soft drink, tobacco, lighters and a large bottle of Captain Morgan Spiced rum.
The chef, from Margate, had initially denied murder but finally admitted to the charge following numerous psychiatric and psychological assessments.
At the time, he appeared via video link from high-security Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital in Berkshire and spoke to confirm his name and date of birth and to enter his guilty plea.
Alison Morgan KC said Van-Pooss had been 'manipulating and malingering' proceedings for months.
Ms Morgan added that having previously claimed to have no memory of events, he then gave a 'preposterous' account to a medical expert just a week before his trial was due to start, claiming he'd become 'angered' by Ms Knights making 'unwanted' sexual advances towards him.
Ms Knights' disappearance last summer sparked a widespread search from police, the coastguard and Kent Search and Rescue and lifeboat crews, as well as from family, friends and the local community.
Van-Pooss had himself been the subject of a Kent Police 'Missing Person' appeal on the evening of August 22.
He had been fired from his job at The Powell bar and restaurant in Birchington earlier that day after being caught on CCTV using his phone to film up a woman's skirt.
He is still being held in Broadmoor and has been diagnosed with a personality disorder.
In a tribute following her death, Ms Knights was described as a 'trailblazer in life'.
The sculptor's achievements included teaching art in two prisons in the early 1990s and graduating from The Margate School with a masters last year, where she was praised as being 'outstanding and exceptional'.
Natalie Smith from the Crown Prosecution Service South East said: 'None of us can imagine the terror that Claire suffered when she was attacked, knowing that she was alone on an isolated path and being overpowered by a strong and determined man.
'It was our case that Lawrence-Van Pooss singled out Claire as a lone woman walking her dog who would be unable to fight him off.
'Women should be free to safely walk on their own anywhere, even in isolated areas, without fear of being attacked.
'Male violence against women has no place in our society. The CPS is dedicated to bringing perpetrators like Lawrence-Van Pooss who commit these horrific crimes to justice.
'Claire's family and friends have shown true resilience and dignity throughout this horrendous time. Today they have finally seen the man who murdered Claire jailed for life and we hope this brings them some small comfort.'
