A convicted killer who brutally stabbed a woman to death in her Nutfield flat just hours after meeting her was today jailed for life for her murder.

David Baxendale subjected 38-year-old mother-of-three Sarah Thomas to a ferocious attack which left her with multiple injuries including a fatal knife wound to the neck in May last year.

The 40-year-old then fled the country on a ferry and travelled to southern Spain where he had been jailed for a previous murder in 2001.

An extensive investigation 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 and 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 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 'The Spinning Wheel' building in Nutfield village and was known to keep company with a number of people who had alcohol-related or other anti-social problems.

On the afternoon of 10 May 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 concerned 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 hour and a half.

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

Baxendale ran through a number of 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 later found containing a t-shirt and jeans with the defendant's DNA on them and a pair of trainers stained with Sarah Thomas' blood.

Baxendale's fingerprints were also found in Miss Thomas' 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, departing 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 Airport, 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 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 had stopped returning his calls.

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

"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.

"But thanks to the determination of my team, Baxendale found there was no place to hide and was brought back to this country to face the full force of the law.

"Our thoughts and sympathies remain today with the family and friends of Sarah Thomas, particularly her two eldest sons, and I hope today has brought them some justice and closure for what happened to her."