THE police officer who led the investigation into the "cold, calculated and brutal murder" of Natalie Jarvis has described his shock when he first arrived at the crime scene.

Adam Whelehan drove his girlfriend Miss Jarvis to a secluded car park in Button Street, Swanley Village, where the 23-year-old then stabbed her more than 20 times with a multi-tool which he used as part of his job as a trainee BT engineer.

A passer-by found the victim's lifeless body face down on the side of the road at 11.15pm on October 3 last year.

Detective Inspector Gavin Moss, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, was called to Swanley Village Road 10 minutes after the 23-year-old was pronounced dead.

He arrived to find a trail of Miss Jarvis’s blood – evidence of her desperate attempts to battle knife-wielding Adam Whelehan.

Speaking exclusively to News Shopper today, Det Insp Moss said: "What immediately struck me was the distance from where we saw the first spot of blood to where Natalie ended up.

"That was over a distance of about 150m. It beggars belief what that poor girl must have gone through in that time.

"She received some horrific injuries - in excess of 20 injuries to her neck area - and was quite clearly moving the whole of that distance."

Today Whelehan, of Roseberry Gardens in Sidcup, was found guilty of Miss Jarvis’ murder by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

Whelehan's friend Tom Fuller, 23, of Oakley Drive in Eltham, was cleared of murder after allegedly being the "getaway driver".

Det Insp Moss said of Whelehan, who was seeing Miss Jarvis in the months leading to her murder: "He clearly thought he could come up with a self-defence in relation to the death of Natalie Jarvis.

"The jury have been able to see right through that and seen it for what it was, which was a cold, calculated, brutal murder of a young female who had the whole life in front of her.

"He had options available to him. He chose the most severe option available. Perhaps what he should have done if he was having difficulties with her was to go through other channels, even the police, which he never chose to do."

The senior police officer praised Miss Jarvis’ family, who have filled the public gallery during the two-week trial.

He added: "What has really struck me throughout this whole investigation, and more importantly the trial, is the complete dignity the family have displayed.

"I would like to publicly pay tribute to them and the strength that they have shown.

"A daughter and a sister was cruelly taken from them last October in such tragic circumstances, yet they have assisted our investigation immensely and have helped us reach today’s result.

"Natalie was a young, popular girl with many happy years and experiences to look forward to with her family and friends.

"Adam Whelehan stole that from her."

This case was the first time new technology known as scene scanning has been used by Kent Police in a murder trial.

The technology creates a virtual walk-through of the scene and was shown in court to recreate Miss Jarvis’ trail of blood.

Det Insp Moss said: "This has been used by our crash investigation unit in relation to fatal road accidents.

"However, we could see the benefits in this case of utilitising it and was very helpful in terms of court presentation.

"It allows the jury to fully concentrate on the scene itself.

"Normally they would use photographs but this really helps them understand what the scene was like."

Dozens of "appalling" phone and social media messages sent by Whelehan were used as evidence too.

"There was an enormous amount of text and Blackberry messages.

"It is unusual for there to be text and social media messages of that nature but it very much helps our case."