Colin Ash-Smith, 46, kept journals with details of the 'Assault Plans' he intended to carry out, a court heard
A former milkman jailed for brutal attacks on two young women also killed schoolgirl Claire Tiltman in a "frenzied and remorseless" murder more than two decades ago, a court has heard.
Colin Ash-Smith, 46, pounced on Claire as she took a shortcut through an alley to a friend's house in 1993 just four days after her 16th birthday, knifing her no less than nine times, it is claimed.
The "predatory killer" murdered the schoolgirl as part of a "spree" of attacks on women in Kent in the late 1980s and 1990s, Inner London Crown Court heard.
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said Ash-Smith "savagely killed" Claire inside a dark alleyway on January 18 1993 because he got a "warped pleasure" out of her murder.
He told jurors: "Her assailant had stabbed her no less than nine times in what can only be described as a frenzied and remorseless attack by someone having nothing less than the intention of killing her.
"Make no mistake, this was a killing for the sake of killing, carried out by a ruthless and predatory armed killer, who attacked his chosen victim rapidly and stealthily, allowing her no time for defence or escape, and who fled the scene just as efficiently as he had arrived."
The court heard that Ash-Smith carried out similarly brutal knife attacks on other women - and plotted more.
And he allegedly bragged about his attacks in journals which contained details of his Assault Plans.
In 1988 Ash-Smith tried to murder and rape a woman, stabbing her repeatedly in a savage attack.
Mr Altman said Ash-Smith was just 20 when he attempted to murder his first victim "by strangling her, and by stabbing her several times in the back, and he had attempted to rape her.
"She had been lucky to survive."
"The killing of Claire Tiltman did not end his spree, because two and a half years later in October 1995, when he was 27, the defendant attacked and stabbed another local woman some 360 metres as the crow flies from where the prosecution say he attacked Claire Tiltman."
He said that, like the schoolgirl's murder two years before, the attack was "seemingly motiveless" and it was also "a rare and exceptional event".
Ash-Smith pleaded guilty in 1996 to these other attacks.
Jurors heard that Claire had been taking her mock GCSE exams around the time of her "dreadful murder".
That evening, she left home to visit her friend Victoria Swift's house, who she was going to talk to about college choices.
But she never arrived and was stabbed to death in an alleyway before staggering out bleeding onto London Road in Greenhithe.
Passers-by rushed to her aid, but she couldn't be saved and died on her back on the pavement.
The court heard that Kent Police launched a massive and long-running investigation to hunt down Claire's killer, but Ash-Smith has always denied her murder.
Ash-Smith was arrested following his attack in October 1995, two years after Claire's death.
Mr Altman said police discovered writings Ash-Smith penned entitled 'Assault Plans' in which he bragged about his attacks - and plotted others.
Mr Altman said that in those notes "he had written about the attack in 1988 as well as other planned attacks that he had not completed".
While in prison for the other two attacks he "befriended a fellow prisoner to whom he confessed he was Claire Tiltman's killer", Mr Altman added.
He said Claire's killing was an "entirely motiveless attack", and Ash-Smith got a sick thrill out of her killing.
He said: "There was no sexual interference and nothing was stolen from her.
"But to her killer Claire was a target for a completely senseless slaughter of an innocent young teenage girl, you might think for no better reason than the warped pleasure he derived from attacking a lone woman and the ultimate power and control it gave him."
Ash-Smith denies the murder and has always claimed he has an alibi for the killing.
The fair-haired 46-year-old wore a pale pinstriped shirt and jeans as he sat in the dock flanked by three uniformed guards and stared straight ahead as details of Claire's murder were given in court.
He spoke only to plead not guilty to murder in a clear voice.
A group of Claire's old school friends sat in the public gallery as the historic murder case was opened.
The court heard that Ash-Smith was a knife-obsessed loner who kept combat and flick knives.
Mr Altman said: "To those who came into contact with him, he seemed to be a very quiet, shy individual, something of a loner.
"However, he owned and habitually carried a range of weapons, including knives, about which he had an obsessive interest.
"He kept combat or flick type knives, and would often show them off to work colleagues as well as acquaintances."
Jurors heard Ash-Smith attended Claire's funeral just a month after allegedly killing her.
He was photographed there with his parents, former Labour councillor Diane and her husband Aubrey.
His mother doted on him and refused to believe he could do any wrong - even after he was convicted for the other knife attacks, jurors heard.
Mr Altman said Ash-Smith's girlfriend at the time of the killing, Stella Murrell, said "the defendant was...the golden boy in his mother's eyes who could do no wrong, even those offences of which he was convicted".
And she said he was "controlling" and although they lived together at his parents home, they slept in separate bedrooms.
Jurors heard that Claire, who lived in Stone, Kent, went to Dartford Grammar School for Girls and was the only child of Clifford and Linda Tiltman.
Both her parents have died since her murder.
The trial continues.
