Man accused of murdering Luton sex worker Victoria Greenwood had 'thoughts about killing and death'

A man who murdered a sex worker before dumping and burning her body in a layby “had been having dark and disturbing thoughts about killing and death”, a court heard.

The jury were told that three days after her alleged murder, Robert Brown, 38, turned up at work "almost certainly with the victim’s body in the box in his car".

Victoria Greenwood, 41, was picked up by Brown, a regular customer last November from Luton town centre.

Brown is alleged to have taken Ms Greenwood back to his flat in Hitchin Road, and at 1.53am she was seen trying to flee the flat, partially clothed.

CCTV from the back of the rented flat in Hitchin Roads showed a naked Brown grab her and drag her back inside.

Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones KC outlined the details of the attack, saying: “The defendant was clearly attacking her - he was standing over her.

"She was on her front and on the floor. He dragged her with one hand on her hair and [the other] hand on her face. He dragged her back into the property. It is plain she is trying to resist.”

Mr Lloyd-Jones said Ms Greenwood was not seen alive again. He added: "...In order to cover up what he had done he packed Victoria Greenwood’s body into a wooden furniture unit and put it into his car.”

The prosecutor said Brown drove to Wallington, east of Letchworth in Hertfordshire. He said: "He then took her body out of the car, poured petrol on it and set it on fire. He did so intending to destroy evidence and cover up what he had done to her.”

The jury at Luton Crown Court heard that in the period leading up to the murder there was evidence Brown had been having “dark and disturbing thoughts about killing and death”.

Brown also sent messages to a good friend of Ms Greenwood. A week before the murder, he asked her: “Ever wanted to kill a person?”

The next day, in another message to her, he wrote: “I want to kill people. People are s***. 98% of the human population if they had any decency at all would realise they were no more than a flea on a dog’s back and kill themselves.”

In the hours before the killing he texted a colleague.

“He raised 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.

Brown went to work on 13 November, almost certainly with the victim’s body in the box in his car, said the prosecution.

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

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

Home Office pathologist Dr Robert Chapman found Ms Greenwood had suffered skull fractures indicative of being caused by a heavy blunt object.

Brown said in a prepared statement he told detectives he had known Ms Greenwood for 18 months and knew she was a sex worker. He said he picked her up in Reginald Street and they had consensual sex. After that, he said, she left his flat.

Brown denies murder and the trial continues.

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