A primary school teacher who murdered her boyfriend before burying him in their garden has been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years.
Fiona Beal, 50, from Northampton, stabbed Nicholas Billingham, 42, to death sometime between October and November 2021.
After previously pleading guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by reason of loss of control, Beal last month pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Billingham.
The Old Bailey heard she killed him in “cold blood” before burying his body in their back garden.
Mr Billingham’s partly-mummified remains were discovered four-and-a-half months after he was last seen on 1 November, 2021.
Handing her a life sentence on Thursday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: “Having moved and buried the body in the garden you then lied to his mother, numerous friends, all his family and yours as to what you had done and where he was.”
Earlier during the two-day sentencing hearing, Andrew Wheeler KC, defending, told the court Beal had demonstrated “courage” to admit the murder.
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The barrister also said Beal expressed “remorse” in journals she wrote, quoting one entry which recorded her reaching a “breaking point” and apologising for a host of things.
It was also heard during the trial that Mr Billingham had affairs.
Mr Wheeler said the purpose for examining the evidence relating to Mr Billingham’s behaviour was not intended “to speak ill of the dead”, but that it was “relevant” to the murder and “does explain how (Beal) came to be broken”.
Fiona Beal. Pic: PA
Beal had earlier described Mr Billingham as making “belittling comments” and calling her “old” and “fat”.
“To say that what happened eventually…was out of character does not in our submission begin to do it justice,” Mr Wheeler told the court.
On the first day of her sentencing hearing, the prosecution read out a letter Mr Billingham wrote to Beal after he had an affair during their 17-year relationship.
Beal buried her partner in a strip of ground to the left of the house. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
Fiona Beal’s garden. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
Fiona Beal’s garden where she buried her partner. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
In the letter, Mr Billingham accepted his faults and described Beal as “kind hearted”, “generous” and “the most beautiful woman in the world”.
He wrote: “I promise to never again belittle you or make you feel rubbish again.
“My body, my heart, my love has been yours since the day I met you and will be until the day I die.”
A bloodstained mattress discovered in Fiona Beal’s cellar. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
On the day of his death, Mr Billingham had worked on a house renovation before returning to the home he shared with Beal in Northampton.
That evening, she killed him in a “carefully planned domestic execution”, the prosecution said.
Beal stabbed him in the neck and disposed of the body in a shallow grave at the side of their home like “building waste”.
Mr Billingham’s mother Yvonne Valentine last month told Sky News how she had visited the couple’s home in the days after the killing.
She said: “I walked into the house, in the living room, and the first thing I thought was, ‘oh, have you had a turn round of furniture? It all looks different’.
“Fiona offered me a Christmas drink and we sat there… but it always gets to me, because I think Nick was buried in the garden, just a few feet away and I didn’t know he was there.”
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In a victim impact statement, Ms Valentine branded Beal a “coward” and “exceptionally evil and cruel” to send her messages from her son’s phone to convince her he was safe and well.
In February 2022, Beal had been signed off work with anxiety, stress, depression and low mood.
The following month, she rented a cabin in Cumbria and sent messages to family members which gave them cause for concern over her wellbeing, prompting them to call police to check on her.
Fiona Beal’s journal in which she wrote: “Hiding a body was hard.”Pic: Northamptonshire Police
In the cabin, police found Beal’s journals containing a confession to the killing.
They also included reference to her having a split personality and an alter ego she called Tulip 22.
She also described how during the murder she told Mr Billingham he was killing her so he couldn’t do to another woman “what he has done to me”.
The journals triggered a police investigation and Beal was arrested in March 2022 after Mr Billingham’s body was discovered.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
