Alleged voyeur charged with murdering mum while she was walking her dog
Police have named a man suspected of killing a woman while she was out walking her dog.
Authorities today charged 20-year-old Harrison Lawrence-van Pooss with the murder of Claire Knights, of Upstreet, near Canterbury.
Lawrence-van Pooss, from Margate in Kent, is also facing charges of voyeurism, following a separate investigation into covert ‘upskirt’ photos allegedly taken of another woman the day before Claire went missing.
Earlier today, he appeared for a short hearing via live link at Medway Magistrates’ Court, where his case was sent to Maidstone Crown Court.
He is due to make an appearance there tomorrow.
An artist by profession, Claire was reported to have been walking her springer spaniel, named Zebulon, around the Minnis Bay area of Birchington when she went missing on Wednesday August 23.
Posters were placed on shelters, posts and shop windows, with neighbours reporting helicopters and a large police presence in the area.
An inquest into the 54-year-old’s death subsequently heard her family, conducting their own search alongside police and other emergency service workers, found her body near the village three days later.
Her dog, meanwhile, was found running along the beach, without a collar or lead.
Official cause of death has been given as drowning and blunt-force trauma.
The family said in a statement released by Kent Police: ‘Claire was a loving mum, partner, daughter and sister. An amazing contemporary artist, a trailblazer in life.
‘She loved animals and in particular her spaniel, Zebulon.’
They added: ‘We are struggling to come to terms with the fact she is no longer with us. We wish to thank friends and the community for their support and kind words.’
Uwe Derkson, director of The Margate School where Claire was previously a student, said: ‘She was an outstanding, exceptional artist and student, and anyone who had the privilege to see her work would no doubt agree.’
The school also issued its own tribute, saying her work had ‘elements of humour and wit alongside determination’ that ‘reflected her complex, loving nature.’
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