sentenced to 11 years in Spain in 2001 for the murder of an associate who he had stabbed 14 times while under the influence of drink and drugs.

convicted killer who carried out a ferocious attack on a Nutfield woman, stabbing her to death, has been jailed for life for her murder.

David Baxendale, 40, subjected 38-year-old mother-of-three Sarah Thomas to a “sustained and savage attack” in her flat just hours after meeting her.

She suffered multiple injuries, including a fatal knife wound to the neck, in the brutal assault in May last year.

Baxendale then fled the country on a ferry and travelled to southern Spain where he had been jailed for a previous murder in 2001.

The murder hunt launched by Surrey Police's Major Crime Investigation Team pinpointed Baxendale as the prime suspect, and detectives tracked his movements through Europe.

He was caught in Spain when a holidaymaker recognised him from a media appeal.

He was arrested by local police and extradited back to Britain to face justice.

Baxendale, who has a history of violence dating back 20 years, was found guilty of murder by a jury at Guildford Crown Court following a three-week trial, and was sentenced to a whole-life term.

The court heard that at the time of her death, Miss Thomas was living in a flat at The Spinning Wheel building in Nutfield, and was known to keep company with a number of people who had alcohol-related or other anti-social problems.

On the afternoon of May 10 last year, she met Baxendale at a friend's flat in Redhill and the pair caught a taxi back to her flat at around 5pm.

Miss Thomas' boyfriend David Bowden tried to call her as he was worried for her safety, but by the time he got to the flat, he found her lying on the living room floor covered in blood.

Although the emergency services arrived shortly after, they were unable to revive her and she died at the scene.

Baxendale, who had been drinking during the day, was spotted running from the building and witnesses saw him in the Nutfield area over the next 90 minutes.

A knife, which was found to have both his and Miss Thomas' blood on it, was later found near a tree, and a plastic bag containing his blood-stained jacket was found under a bench in a garden.

Baxendale ran through fields and paths before eventually catching a taxi to Walton-on-the-Hill, where his mother lived.

A bag, hidden in a hedge in a nearby lane, was discovered later, containing a T-shirt and jeans with the defendant's DNA on them, and a pair of trainers stained with Miss Thomas' blood.

Baxendale's fingerprints were also found in his victim's blood by the window of her flat and on the neck of a Bacardi bottle.

The day after the murder, he made his way to Portsmouth, where he was seen shaving his head in the public toilets of a local shopping centre.

He later used his brother's passport to book a one-way ticket to St Malo in France, leaving on a ferry that evening.

He gradually made his way to Fuengirola near Marbella in Spain, where he was arrested on June 21 after a member of the public recognised him as a man he had met in a bar while on holiday.

Baxendale was flown back to Heathrow accompanied by Surrey officers, and declined to be interviewed.

The court heard he had a number of previous convictions for violence involving knives, and was sentenced to 11 years in Spain in 2001 for the murder of an associate who he had stabbed 14 times while under the influence of drink and drugs.

He was deported back to the UK in June 2008 and released from prison in September 2009 to be placed under the care of Surrey Probation Service.

Just five days before Sarah Thomas' murder, Baxendale threatened to kill another woman who he had met while attending Probation, and who had stopped returning his calls.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Hayes, who led the investigation, said: "This was a truly tragic case.”

Det Chief Insp Hayes said: “Sarah Thomas was the victim of a sustained and savage attack in her own home at the hands of a man she had only just met that afternoon.

"The number of injuries she suffered and the ferocity used was truly shocking.”

He continued: "David Baxendale already had a history of offences involving knives spanning the last 20 years, including a previous conviction for murder.

"He is clearly an extremely dangerous and callous individual whose propensity for violence knows no bounds.

"He has not shown a shred of remorse for this horrific crime and instead tried to flee the country in a bid to evade capture.”

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