Sex worker 'murdered' by client, jury hears

Robert Brown is accused of murdering Victoria Greenwood in Luton in November after texting "I want to kill"

A sex worker was murdered by a regular customer who drove her body to a lay-by and set it alight, a jury heard.

Victoria Greenwood, 41, was picked up in Luton town centre by local man Robert Brown who, the court heard, had been having "dark and disturbing thoughts about killing and death”.

Mr Brown, 38, of Hitchin Road, denies murdering Ms Greenwood in November last year.

Her body was discovered in a remote area between Roe Green and Wallington, Hertfordshire, at about 20:00 GMT on 14 November.

Luton Crown Court was told Mr Brown drove Ms Greenwood to his flat on 10 November where they engaged in sexual activity, before she fled in a partially-clothed state at 01.53 GMT.

The body of Victoria Greenwood was found at a layby in rural Hertfordshire last November

Prosecuting, John Lloyd-Jones KC said CCTV showed the defendant naked and dragging Ms Greenwood back inside.

“The defendant was clearly attacking her - he was standing over her," Mr Lloyd-Jones said.

"She was on the floor. He dragged her back into the property. It is plain she is trying to resist.

“Victoria Greenwood was not seen alive again.”

He said Mr Brown drove to Cat Ditch Road in Wallington, a small village east of Letchworth, where he took her body out of his white Fiesta, poured petrol on it and set it fire.

“He did so intending to destroy evidence and cover up what he had done to her,” the prosecutor added.

Victoria Greenwood was reported missing by her friends on 11 November.

'Dark and disturbing'

The prosecutor said there was evidence that Mr Brown had been having “dark and disturbing thoughts about killing and death".

He sent messages to a friend of Victoria Greenwood a week before the murder, asking her: “Ever wanted to kill a person?”, the court heard.

On the day before the killing, he told his employer he would not be back at work that week and texted another colleague to say: “It’s been a volatile week."

The jury was told that in the hours before he picked up Victoria Greenwood he texted another colleague, raising "topics of villains and heroes, whether Hitler was misunderstood, God and the Devil".

"He said: 'No light without dark. Cruel to be kind. Mercy killing',” said Mr Lloyd-Jones.

He added that Mr Brown tried to cover up the murder, initially planning to dismember her body and buying tools and cleaning products from a hardware store.

He returned to work on 13 November, almost certainly with the victim’s body in the box in his car, the prosecutor said.

When colleagues asked him about scratch marks on his face and a black eye, he told them he had been involved in a fight in a pub.

The prosecutor said: “The injuries were caused by Victoria Greenwood fighting for her life.”

The trial continues.