A vicious killer who sexually assaulted his victim before stabbing her to death is up for parole ahead of the 25th anniversary of her death.

On November 24, 1999, mum-of-two Susan Kent left her home in a smart residential road and popped out to do a spot of early Christmas shopping, before starting her job as a dinner lady at the nearby school

That morning she bumped into a few acquaintances, had breakfast with a male friend, and got a statement from a building society before returning to her car at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre, near Gillingham.

But she never arrived for her shift at Hempstead Junior School in Birch Grove, a few doors away from the home where she lived with her son Julian, aged 10 and seven-year-old daughter Jessie.

Her last known sighting was captured on CCTV at the shopping centre at 10.41am.

Hours later, she was discovered brutally murdered in a pool of blood in her bedroom.

She was semi-naked, had been sexually assaulted, her throat and breasts were slit and she was handcuffed.

A full-scale manhunt was launched to track down the evil monster who could have done this to a 33-year-old woman who loved working with children and older people.

Police eventually got their man - David Ferguson, an ex-boyfriend who lived in Port Rise, Chatham and who perversely had even offered to help officers in their investigation to find the killer.

As the 30-year-old remained in a prison cell, details of his sordid lifestyle emerged - his attraction to snuff movies; a fascination with stabbing, rape and bondage; and he had the words Murderous Intent tattooed on his back.

He had discussed on internet chat forums setting up a UK Rape Club, where female victims would wear badges to identify themselves.

Copious amounts of pornography were found at his home, where he lived with a lodger.

Ferguson has always maintained his innocence but at his trial, a forensic officer said the chances of DNA found at the murder scene belonging to anyone else than him were “a billion to one”.

Ferguson is currently serving life, a minimum of 20 years as a Category A prisoner at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire.

The judge branded him a “sex monster” and a parole board has previously deemed him to be a “highly dangerous person”.

It was the secretary at Hempstead Infants, where daughter Jessie was a pupil, who raised the alarm when Susan failed to pick her up from school.

She called Susan’s mother-in-law Iris Kent, who lived in Newington, to collect her and take her home.

When they arrived, taxi driver Lance Ridden was outside with son Julian, who he transported to and from a special school in Gravesend.

The pair noticed the house was in darkness, Susan’s car was on the drive and the back door was open. As Lance and Iris went inside, they noticed the shopping of the normally house-proud mum strewn across the floor. They then climbed the stairs to make the gruesome discovery of Susan’s lifeless body face down on the bed.

Cabbie Lance, on hearing the children come into the property, managed to usher them away to prevent them from seeing the blood-soaked body of their mother who had been stabbed multiple times

Since divorcing husband John, an electrical unit fitter, Susan had been on a few dates, including Ferguson whom she had met at the Casino Rooms in Rochester a year earlier.

While John looked out for his family, Susan took on several jobs, including as an Avon lady and part-time childminder to buy “little extras” for her children, according to her close-knit family who were based in Bristol.

Comprehensive CCTV footage of her trip to Hempstead Valley that morning shows her going into Thomas Cook travel agency and it’s believed she may have been planning a surprise trip to the West Country.

David Ferguson remains at the maximum security jail where he previously wrote a regular blog protesting the injustice of his conviction in November 2000.

He was investigated by the Ministry of Justice for the online blog in which he bragged about his love life and complained about the prison facilities, including cold showers.

In August 2015, the murderer, who referred to women as “meat” married prison penpal Carol Nash in the grounds of HMP Wakefield. Ferguson describes her as his “kitten”.

In two previous reviews of his detention, prison boards found Ferguson is “highly dangerous” and should be kept in as a top security “Category A” prisoner.

It is thought the killer will appear before the parole board again today (Wednesday).