Northampton teacher admits killing partner buried in garden

Fiona Beal admitted the manslaughter of her partner but denies murder

By Martin Heath and Greg McKenzie

BBC News, Northamptonshire

A primary school teacher has admitted killing her partner whose tied-up body was found buried in the garden.

The remains of Nicholas Billingham, 42, were found at a home in Moore Street, Northampton, in March 2022, four and a half months after he was last seen.

At the Old Bailey, Fiona Beal admitted manslaughter but is now on trial for murder.

The prosecution told the jury she had sent messages from her partner's phone pretending to be him.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC, told the jury Ms Beal pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter - but denied murdering Mr Billingham between October 30 and November 10, 2021.

Opening the murder trial, prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said Ms Beal messaged several people from Mr Billingham's phone in early November to say they had both contracted Covid-19 and needed to isolate.

He said Ms Beal had also sent messages to her sisters on 8 November which said the couple had split up. One said that Mr Billingham had an affair with another woman, which Mr Davies submitted was "completely false".

Image source, Northamptonshire Police

Nicholas Billingham's body was found four months after he went missing

The court was told Ms Beal then rented a cabin in Cumbria in March 2022, where police found journals "written in her hand".

Mr Davies said the entries "certainly do contain some unambiguously clear declarations of what she had done".

"She had planned to, and had, killed him in cold blood," he added.

Mr Davies said that Ms Beal introduced a "second self" in the journals, who she called Tulip 22.

The court heard one entry said: "Still my actions haunt me. I sometimes have to catch myself and remember what I did and then remember my cover story - neither seem convincing."

Image source, PA Media

Police searched Ms Beale's home

Another journal entry put forward by the prosecution read: "Hiding a body was bad. Moving a body is much more difficult than it looks on TV."

Mr Davies's submission to the court was that Ms Beal stabbed Mr Billingham in the neck as he was wearing a sleep mask and probably cable-tied him to the bed.

Mr Davies told the jury: "Acting throughout on her own, she wrapped her dead partner up and dragged him down the stairs, destroying the banister rails upstairs in order to do so.

"She buried him in the side return of her garden."

Mr Davies described how Mr Billingham's "grave" comprised of concrete she had mixed and a "de facto coffin" made of breeze blocks, timber and sheets.

The trial continues and is expected to last six weeks.

Got a story? Email eastinvestigationsteam@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830. Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X.

Related Internet Links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.