Teacher stabbed cheating boyfriend and buried his body in their garden, court hears

A primary school teacher stabbed her partner in the neck and buried his body in their garden, a court has heard.

Prosecutors allege Fiona Beal, 49, of Moore Street killed her long-term partner in their bedroom in Northampton in November 2021.

Nicholas Billingham's partly mummified remains were discovered in March last year, four-and-a-half months after the 42-year-old was last seen.

Beal denies murder and is on trial at Northampton Crown Court.

Prosecutor Steven Perian KC said Beal had written in a notebook that she believed Mr Billingham was cheating on her, and “had decided to kill him” by October 2021.

It is also alleged that Beal had written about how she kept a knife in her dressing gown pocket and then hid it in the drawer next to the bed.

The notebook also described how she "brought a chisel, bin bag and cable ties" and got Mr Billingham "to wear an eye mask".

Jurors were told the notebook contained a claim that Beal had been spat on and threatened during sex and subjected to cruel and belittling treatment.

Instead of leaving him, Mr Perian said, Beal formed a plan on how and when to kill him, where to conceal his body, and how to cover it up.

The prosecutor added: “The prosecution suggests from the evidence gathered it is very likely, she killed Nicholas Billingham during the evening of the 1st of November 2021 in their bedroom.”

Having killed Mr Billingham, the Crown alleges, she tied up and wrapped his body, buried it in the garden, and painted and cleaned the bedroom where the killing had taken place.

She is then alleged to have told others that Mr Billingham had left her for another woman, and to have used his phone to send messages to friends and work colleagues, pretending that he was still alive.

The court heard Beal was found by police in March last year at a lodge near Kendal in Cumbria, after suffering superficial wounds and writing “what read like a suicide note”.

She was then taken to the local hospital and detained under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Perian added: “The police recovered a notebook from the place where she had been renting that detailed a chilling account of how she had planned and killed someone, but it did not contain the name of the person she had killed.”

Northamptonshire Police were then contacted, the trial heard, and visited Beal’s home, finding a bloodstained mattress in the basement, and an apparent blood stain on the bed frame in the master bedroom.

Part of the back garden was also dug up, revealing “partially wrapped and partially-clothed” human remains.

Clothing thought to be a dressing gown was recovered, along with black plastic wrapped around the victim’s head.

A pathologist concluded that the cause of Mr Billingham’s death was a single stab wound to the right-hand side of his neck, which cut through the jugular vein.

Records showed Beal, who worked at Northampton’s Eastfield Academy as a Year 6 teacher, was absent from work between November 1 and November 12.

The trial continues.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...