A Walton businesswoman was killed in a frenzied knife attack while on a date with a man she met in a nightclub, the Old Bailey heard.

Kate Beagley, 32, was stabbed more than 30 times in the face, neck and throat before her body was dumped in woods in Hertfordshire.

Her body had been stripped, washed with a bottle of mineral water and partially concealed with nettles in Oxhey Woods, near Watford, the court was told.

Football coach Karl Taylor, 27, from Kemble Street, Covent Garden, is alleged to have killed Miss Beagley after they argued while out on a first date.

Taylor, who denies one charge of murder, met Miss Beagley at a nightclub in Trocadero in central London last May.

They arranged to go on a date and met a week later at the Roebuck pub in Richmond on May 30.

After leaving the pub they sat on a bench overlooking Richmond Hill.

Prosecutor Peter Clarke told the court an argument broke out which resulted in a frenzied knife attack.

He said Miss Beagley was stabbed repeatedly before her body was put in the boot of her grey Volkswagen Golf and driven across London to woodland in Hertfordshire.

He said Taylor had taken a carving knife he had borrowed from a friend and a pair of scissors, which he hid up his sleeve, on the date.

The court was told Taylor threw away Miss Beagley's clothes and the knife near junction 3 of the M1.

CCTV footage showed Taylor in a petrol station near to Shepherd's Bush Green just after midnight on May 30 where he bought £1 of diesel.

He is said to have gone back to Richmond and to the nightclub where the pair met.

Mr Clarke told the court Taylor had driven to his mum's house in Notting Hill, waking her up at 6am and giving her two M&S vouchers he found in Miss Beagley's car.

He later gave his mum and nephew a lift in the car.

He then went to his friend Adrian Kargbo's house because he wanted to show off his new car, the court heard. Taylor sold a silver Nokia phone to his friend which allegedly belonged to Miss Beagley.

Miss Beagley's dad reported her missing 28 hours after she was last seen.

He had become concerned about her safety and gone round to her home in Walton with his daughter's friend Lisa Perry. They found her other mobile phone at the house which had Taylor's number in it.

The court heard they called Taylor who said he had gone out with Miss Beagley in Richmond but she had dropped him off in Twickenham after the date.

He was arrested by police on June 1 and interviewed the following day.

Mr Clarke told the jury that police searched Taylor's friend's home on June 3 and recovered a set of keys that were stashed in a crevice by the bath.

He said Taylor led police to Oxhey Woods where Miss Beagley's body was found on June 4.

The trial continues.