Police believe Mark Dixie pleaded not guilty to the murder of Sally Anne Bowman because he enjoyed reliving the brutal attack.

After a DNA match linked Dixie to the murder scene police thought he would plead guilty.

But instead Dixie claimed he had stumbled upon Sally Anne's body while out searching for cocaine and believing she had simply passed out he "took advantage of the situation".

D Supt Cundy said this week: "As the trial has gone on I wondered why he was pleading not guilty. I wondered whether he had convinced himself that he wasn't guilty. But as it went on I realised that he wanted it to be relived."

In his evidence about the attack on Sally Anne, Dixie acted out to the court how he had lifted up her legs while he sexually assaulted her that night on the driveway of her home in Blenheim Crescent.

He told the jury: "All I saw was a pair of legs, naked genitalia, skirt up over her waist and I took advantage of her. I crouched down behind her back and I took full advantage of someone I shouldn't have."

Detective Inspector Chris LePere, who also worked on the case from the beginning, said the attack on Sally Anne was the epitome of Dixie as a character.

He said: "Dixie is a freeloader. He will use people and move on."