Harrison Lawrence-Van Pooss (21), from Margate, Kent, has had his sentence increased after it was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP, under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.  

The court heard that in August 2023, Claire Knights from Canterbury, went for a walk with her dog around the Minnis Bay area of Birchington.  
 
As Claire was walking back to her car, she was pushed off the path by Lawrence-Van Pooss ,who then violently sexually assaulted her. 

The offender beat Claire around the head and pushed her into a dyke where she drowned.  

Claire’s body was concealed by the reeds and grasses and was not found for two days before her son and his friends discovered her body in the dyke.  

During enquiries, investigators uncovered that Lawrence-Van Pooss attacked Claire a day after he had been caught upskirting a different woman.  

He was confronted but went on the run before he could be arrested. Lawrence-Van Pooss then hid by the beach overnight before his attack on Claire the following afternoon.  

When he was found and arrested by police, Lawrence-Van Pooss had Claire’s dog with him. He had earlier taken the dog to a shop to buy dog treats.  

The Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said:  

Lawrence-Van Pooss’ attack on Claire Knights was horrific. He assaulted and brutally murdered her, in a totally random attack. I welcome the court’s decision to increase Van-Poos’ sentence and I would like to express my deepest sympathies to Claire’s family and loved ones.  

On 28 February 2025, Harrison Lawrence-Van Pooss was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years and 183 days after he pleaded guilty to murder and voyeurism offences at Canterbury Crown Court.  

On 25 July 2025, Lawrence-Van Pooss’ sentence was quashed and substituted with a new sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years and 229 days after it was referred under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.