Northampton teacher Fiona Beal stabbed and buried partner, trial hears

Nicholas Billingham's remains were found months after he was allegedly killed by his girlfriend Fiona Beal

A primary school teacher stabbed her partner in the neck and buried his body in their garden after claiming she was isolating with Covid, a jury has heard.

The partly mummified remains of Nicholas Billingham, 42, were found in Northampton in March last year.

The prosecution told the town's crown court Fiona Beal confessed in a notebook "the things he said and did fuelled my dark side".

The 49-year-old, of Moore Street, denies murder.

The jury was told Mr Billingham's body was discovered four and a half months after he was last seen at a business meeting.

'Belittling treatment'

Opening the prosecution's case, Steven Perian KC said Ms Beal had penned a "chilling" confession in which she wrote that she believed her partner was cheating on her and she "had decided to kill him".

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

Instead of leaving him, Mr Perian said, Ms Beal formed a plan on how and when to kill him, where to conceal his body, how to cover up and explain his disappearance to others, and how to explain her own absence from work when she killed him.

She then tied up and wrapped his body, buried it in the garden, and painted and cleaned the bedroom where the killing had taken place, Mr Perian said.

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.

Police searched Ms Beale's home after arresting her in Cumbria

Records showed the defendant, who worked at Northampton's Eastfield Academy as a Year 6 teacher, was absent from work between 1 and 12 November 2021.

The jury was told the school's principal had been in regular contact with her during her period of "Covid sickness" and that when she returned to work she said her partner had left her, but there were no concerns about her work.

The investigation began when Ms Beal was absent from work again, in March 2022, prompting a concerned family member to contact police.

She was traced to a rented lodge in Cumbria and detained under the Mental Health Act, having been found with superficial wounds and what appeared to be a suicide note, the court heard.

'Eye mask'

She was admitted to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, where officers read her notebook.

"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," explained Mr Perian.

The notebook, part of which was read to the jury by Mr Perian, said: "I thought about leaving but the things he said and did fuelled my dark side - I call her Tulip22, she's reckless, fearless and efficient. Ruthless."

It continued: "While he was in the bath I kept the knife in my dressing gown pocket and then hid it in the drawer next to the bed.

"I brought a chisel, bin bag and cable ties up too.

"I got him to wear an eye mask. It was harder than I thought it would be. Hiding a body was bad. Moving a body is much more difficult than it looks on TV."

After the discovery in Cumbria, Northamptonshire Police 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.

A pathologist concluded Mr Billingham died from a single stab wound to the right-hand side of his neck, which cut through the jugular vein.

The trial continues.