A “highly sexualised” killer seen on CCTV going to the gym and buying snacks just hours before brutally murdering a woman walking her dog has been jailed for life.

Footage shows Harrison Lawrence Van-Pooss, 21, carrying out everyday activities in Birchington on the same day he ambushed Claire Knights and subjected her to a violent sexual assault and fatal beating.

Mr Justice Garnham handed Lawrence Van-Pooss a life sentence with a minimum of term of 25 years and 183 days at Canterbury Crown Court today.

It means he could be in his 40s when he is released.

The judge told Lawrence Van-Pooss he was responsible for an "utterly terrifying and merciless" premeditated and targeted attack on Ms Knights.

He said that as she tried to fight him off she would have realised that she would die, and having initially used his fists to strike her, then stamped on her head as she lay on the ground.

As the murderer looked up from the dock, the judge said: "Her death and in particular the cruel manner of her death has caused unspeakable pain and sorrow to all who knew her and you - and you are alone - are responsible for that death and all that pain.

"You launched an entirely unprovoked attack on Ms Knights as she walked with her dog along that footpath.

"You are a man of considerable height and build. Ms Knights was a slim woman, 5ft 6in in height. She was wearing a bikini and her sun hat.

"I have no doubt she was frightened, intimidated and overborne by you. You forced her off that footpath and attacked her in a grassy area adjacent to a dyke and set back from the footpath.

"You first committed a violent sexual assault on Ms Knights and you did so while she was alive and conscious....The sexual assault you carried out was a very serious one.

"After that sexual assault you beat Ms Knights mercilessly, striking her around the head and causing catastrophic brain injuries.

"I suspect the blows were initially inflicted using your fists but were followed, once she was on the floor, by you stamping on her head."

Detailing the extent of her multiple fractures, Mr Justice Garnham continued: "In my judgment, she must have endured a very significant period of mental and physical suffering before you knocked her unconscious.

"She was conscious when you approached and attacked her. She was conscious as you restrained her and using your not inconsiderable weight to hold her down.

"She was conscious as you sexually assaulted her. She was conscious at the moment you first struck her about the head.

"Throughout this period she must have been terrified and rapidly appreciated the likelihood that you were going to kill her.

"After that attack to her head you pushed her unconscious body into the dyke. You then began the process of covering up this dreadful crime."

As well as ensuring the body was hidden in an area of tall grass and bulrushes, Lawrence Van-Pooss set about disposing of the evidence, including his victim's belongings and even bloodstained grass, by throwing them in the dyke too.

As for her dog, the judge said the murderer was "fortunate he was no guard dog".

On the question of his culpability being reduced by his personality disorder, Mr Justice Garnham said there was "some" connection between his illness and his crimes.

He also said any ability to exercise self-control was only "marginally" affected by his disorder.

But more damning was the fact he concluded Lawrence Van-Pooss had "feigned psychotic behaviour" after his arrest, and that his behaviour as shown in his interactions with several people, including children, in the area both before and after the killing was "rational and normal".

He also condemned the lies he told about Ms Knights's behaviour to explain the DNA findings were "untrue, outrageous and designed to provide an unmerited defence".

He did, however, concede that he was uncertain whether he was armed with a knife that day "with a view to murder" or had indeed brandished it, or that the voyeurism offence set him off "on a path of destruction" as the prosecution alleged.

But Mr Justice Garnham said that it was on seeing Ms Knights that he had decided to attack her and chose a place where he would not be seen.

Referring to the extreme violence used and the inordinate fear she must have felt, the judge added: "She attempted to fight back and when she did you resorted quickly to physical violence that ended in the sexual assault and then you deliberately killing her.

"This attack would have been utterly terrifying for Ms Knights who would, I fear, have anticipated death while being sexually assaulted."

He said the murder was aggravated by the use of alcohol, and that the disposal of her body and incriminating evidence, as well as his silence on arrest about what he had done, added to the "prolonged wait" for Ms Knights's family and her body to be found.

Of the targeting aspect of the case, Mr Justice Garnham said: "Attacksof this type, targeting women because they are isolated does, as the prosecution submit, cause considerable public concern about the safety of women.

It causes widespread concern in the local community and beyond."

Mitigation, he said, came from his age, the fact his ability to exercise self-control was marginally reduced by his disorder, his lack of previous convictions, and a "number of adverse life events" including physical abuse in childhood, the death of his mother, and the "challenges" posed by becoming a father.

Lawrence Van-Pooss has served 501 days in custody since his arrest, which will be deducted from his minimum term.

But he was warned that having served the term, he would only be eligible to apply for parole.

Having commended the many police officers involved in the investigation, Mr Justice Garnham praised Ms Knights's family.

He told the packed public gallery: "It must have been an awful ordeal just to sit through this hearing. You have conducted yourselves admirably and I am grateful for your decency."

Mr Justice Garnham said the voyeurism offence, for which he imposed a concurrent jail term of one month, represented "appalling behaviour" that Lawrence Van-Pooss had dismissed as "just a joke" when confronted.

Ms Knights’ family had earlier left the courtroom in anger after a letter by the killer was read out, in which he claimed the 54-year-old had “not died in pain and suffering”.

Speaking on behalf of the family outside court, Ms Knights' sister Annie Watson described her sibling as an “incredibly strong, creative and fascinating person”.

“She had so many plans and ideas that were destroyed on August 23, 2023,” she said.

“We miss her so much and there hasn't been a day since when we haven't thought about the horror and the pain of my sister's last moments.”

Ms Watson also urged for violence against women to stop and says her sister “vehemently believed” they “should not fear or be inhibited".

“She should have been able to go safely for a swim and walk with her dog,” she added.

“I beg everyone – men and women but especially men – to stand up against misogyny and the language and actions that continue to fuel male violence.”

In a statement thanking the police, her son, Mr Knights-Sloane added: "We could not have had any better people around us and we could not have done it without them."

Armed with a knife, Lawrence Van-Pooss, attacked and sexually assaulted Ms Knights as she strolled with her springer spaniel in Minnis Bay, Birchington, on August 23, 2023, the prosecution said yesterday.

The court heard tMs Knights - a talented artist - was the victim of a premeditated assault by a "powerful" man seeking out a vulnerable woman, and that when she was brutally violated, his intent was to rape her.

The cause of her death was given as blunt force trauma and drowning after she suffered multiple fractures to her head and face, as well as a traumatic brain injury, before being dumped, deeply unconscious but still alive, in a nearby water-filled dyke.

Ms Knights also sustained bruising to her neck and thighs consistent with being restrained by her attacker while alive.

Less than 24 hours earlier, her killer, who has a distinctive spider tattoo on his face, had been caught using his phone to film under another woman's skirt at The Powell bar and restaurant in the seaside town where he worked.

Having been sacked and police alerted, he went on the run, taking his chef's knife, and is believed to have camped out overnight in a den near to where he would confront Ms Knights as she returned to her car from a swim at the beach with her dog, Zeb.

CCTV shows how early on the morning of August 23, Lawrence Van-Pooss worked out at Fit Union gym shortly after 5.45am.

Footage also shows him inside the Best One shop in Minnis Road at about 2.45pm, where he bought sweets, a soft drink, tobacco, lighters and a large bottle of Captain Morgan Spiced rum.

The bottle was later found in his den, virtually empty, along with sweets and clothing, including his underwear.

Police were able to establish from various sightings, CCTV and eyewitness accounts that Ms Knights - who lived with her partner Stuart Hume and her son Elliott Knights-Sloane in Upstreet, Canterbury - had last been seen leaving the beach at 4.30pm, and that by 5pm her dog was with her murderer, close to where her body would eventually be found.

With Ms Knights having been attacked and left facedown in the water-filled dyke, Lawrence Van-Pooss was seen at 4.57pm crouching down near the path and holding the spaniel around the waist.

He also spoke to a runner in that same area between 5pm and 6pm, and was then captured on Ring doorbell footage chatting to a homeowner on Dane Road as he made his way back to the Best One store with Zeb but calling him 'Ramsey'.

Once at the shop, he made the dog wait outside as he went in to buy two drinks and dog treats. He left, the dog walking with him, but returned about five minutes later to buy two bottles of bleach.

The prosecution allege this may have been in an attempt to dispose of any evidence. He was still wearing his boots, now muddy from the dyke, at 6.37pm but was barefoot and dressed in just shorts when arrested about two hours later on the seafront in Minnis Bay.

Police bodycam footage shows the moment Lawrence Van-Pooss was arrested, initially for the voyeurism offence, on the beach at about 8.30pm. He was with Ms Knights' dog at the time.

Her disappearance had sparked a widespread search by police, the coastguard, Kent Search and Rescue and lifeboat crews, as well as family, friends and the local community.

Her Suzuki car was found abandoned in Shuart Lane, St Nicholas-at-Wade, and sadly it was her son who made the tragic discovery of her body on the evening of August 25, two days after she was murdered.

Ms Knights, who also ran a dog-sitting business, and Lawrence Van-Pooss, then aged 20 and of Craven Close, Margate, were not known to each other.

In December last year he pleaded guilty to offences of murder and operating equipment under clothing to observe another without consent and for the purposes of sexual gratification.

But his admittance came only after repeated court adjournments - including at least two scheduled trial dates - and numerous psychiatric and psychological assessments while detained in high security Broadmoor Hospital.

Today, the court heard how, when the defendant was charged with his crimes, he responded: "That’s really horrible and I am really sorry for those people. The fact that I have done that."

The court heard the conduct that led to numerous mental health assessments while in custody, included him claiming Ms Knights's dog had spoken to him, that his body had been taken over by a character he called 'Bethlehem', and that he experienced both auditory and visual hallucinations.

At the start of mitigation this morning, defence barrister Stephen Moses KC told the court the family's "powerful and eloquent" victim impact statements yesterday would "resonate, no doubt, for the rest of the defendant's life for the consequences of his actions".

But he said all the experts had agreed he was suffering from a personality disorder, with one describing it as "severe" and Lawrence Van-Pooss being in a "genuinely disturbed state".

It was also said that there was a "strong likelihood" that his abnormality of mental function would have impaired his ability to control himself.

Mr Moses pointed to the prior contact with mental health services and internet searches on that topic as support of him going through a crisis, as well as the "alarm bells" of his expressions of rage and hallucinations to professionals, as well as suicide attempts which have continued while in Broadmoor.

The court heard Lawrence Van-Pooss had been prescribed medication but did not have it with him when he went on the run following the voyeurism incident.

He was also under stress from relationship difficulties and the death of his dog and his mum, who was said to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia.

"There were real cries for help in this young man, as early as July, real difficulties he was experiencing," said Mr Moses.

"On any view, the personality disorder has been the finding of these experts, and it has led to cries for help in July, there is an offence of upskirting in August, and an offence of murder with sexual conduct.

"Thereafter he has been in a secure unit and a year in Broadmoor at the hands of many professionals. There is a recognised mental disorder and this is a complex case. That is the agreement by all the experts.

"This is not someone who has feigned illness at the outset, and has continued to do so, and there being no difficulties whatsoever to this day, but someone who has exaggerated their symptoms.”

The defence also rejected the prosecution's assertion that a knife was used to "terrify and control" his victim.

He told the court that Lawrence Van-Pooss's "stature and imposing figure" posed the threat and that, having camped out overnight, there were other uses for the blade than "the sinister one" as alleged.

Explaining the circumstances of what the defence said was a "chance meeting" between killer and victim rather than him lying in wait for a lone female, the barrister referred to a suggestion the defendant made to a doctor while in custody that "if she was trying to calm me down, I would have lost it if she tried to touch me".

Mr Moses said: "It's this defendant seeking to give an explanation for how matters progressed. It's fair to say he has never given an account in full or otherwise. He has maintained, for a large part, no memory.

"While this court and the family would strive for a reason and explanation how this abhorrent offence took place in the circumstances it did, the court will be well familiar that often with a defendant and these type of cases, the defendant will block out the gravimum and horrendous factors so they don't have to relive it themselves.

"As we know from Ms Knights's nature, if this defendant was in crisis and it was the kindness of a stranger that was rebuffed in such tragic consequences, that is as consistent with the Crown's suggestion that there could be an inference, because of this being a sexual conduct case, that the defendant could be lying in wait.

"There is little support for that contention (by the prosecution). There was no suggestion of sexual impropriety to the level of assaults upon women, including the day before - that is, an assault on a person."

Of the interactions with several people after Ms Knights's murder, Mr Moses said they represented "a return from an episode of rage to normality".

But the defence assertion that the false accusations made by Lawrence Van-Pooss about Ms Knights's behaviour towards him may have been him "grasping at straws" to explain the murder were rejected by Mr Justice Garnham.

Throughout proceedings yesterday and today, Lawrence Van-Pooss, described by the prosecution as "a highly sexualised individual unable to control his desires", sat with his head bowed and was said to be "medicated".

He did not watch any of the CCTV footage or bodyworn camera footage of his arrest when it was played, nor look up as members of Ms Knights's family read their victim impact statements, describing her as "a kind, caring, shining light".

However, her sister, Annie Watson, had glanced across at the killer as she told him yesterday she did not believe that he had no memory of his heinous actions.

"I know Claire would have fought really hard to defend herself and stay alive. But when she was attacked by this violent predator it was a fight she couldn't win," she said.

"I know my sister would have tried really hard to fight you. She was incredibly strong and this would have made you really angry.

"You saw her as an object, something you could take and destroy. It pains me to think her last moments were felt with so much pain, and then you dumped her body as if it was nothing. My sister was completely expendable to you.

"I believe you do remember exactly what you did and have shown no remorse for taking Claire's life and the horror you have inflicted."

Later, Lawrence Van-Pooss expressed what was said to be his remorse for the murder in a letter.

But as it was read out by Mr Moses - and in which it was claimed Ms Knights had "not died in pain and suffering" - her son, partner and sister reacted angrily and left the courtroom.

The killer wrote: "I am genuinely remorseful for robbing this world of such a kind and caring and talented woman.

"I wish I had killed myself before so I could not have harmed anyone.

"I am unsure if this will help the family or community in any way but I will never forgive myself, and she didn't die in any pain or suffering.

"There is nothing I can do to make amends but hopefully you can find some solace in the truth and in my incarceration. I'm so sorry."

Time Lawrence Van-Pooss has spent on remand will be deducted from his sentence.