DROITWICH'S Poppy Day murder was executed by a sick serial killer who mutilated the bodies of his three victims so they could not be recognised.

Unlicensed taxi driver Philip Smith strangled and set fire to his first victim, beat and drove over his second, then knocked down and clubbed the third to death, it was alleged.

Smith, of Braithwaite Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, denies three charges of murder.

The second alleged victim, Rosemary Corcoran, was taken from a Birmingham nightclub to Rashwood where he dragged her out of his car, beat her so hard her teeth came out, then left tyre marks on her body, a jury was told.

A pathologist had to piece the 25-year-old mother's jaw back together before he could begin to identify her.

It was alleged at Leicester Crown Court that, four days earlier, Smith had killed 21-year-old Jodie Hyde, trussed her naked body in a blanket, and doused it in petrol before setting it alight.

Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecuting, alleged that less than two hours after Smith killed Miss Corcoran on Remembrance Sunday last year, he drove into care worker Carol Jordan as she walked through Lee Bank, Birmingham.

Smith, aged 36, then beat the mum-of-six in a "frenzied" attack until she was dead, he added.

The court heard Smith took a shine to Miss Corcoran, of Castle Vale, Birmingham, when he spotted her drinking in his local, The Rainbow in Digbeth.

She was with her boyfriend, who was the father of her three children, and an old flame. By midnight, her boyfriend had had enough.

"Miss Corcoran was enjoying herself and wanted to stay on," said Mr Raggatt.

Smith, who rarely washed and wore the same clothes for weeks, offered the others a lift to another pub.

"Philip Smith was trying to link arms with Rosie," said Mr Raggatt. "She didn't like it very much, but she was pretty drunk."

Trouble broke out in the pub and her "pie-eyed" ex-boyfriend was thrown out and he wandered off.

It was then Smith packed Miss Corcoran into his Volvo and drove to the Monte Carlo Club in Handsworth. Video footage shows them arriving at around 2.30am.

Just after 4.40am, on CCTV footage shown to the court, Smith was seen manhandling Miss Corcoran outside the club.