Northampton murder trial told partner left accused multiple times

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

A woman alleged to have murdered her long-term partner told her father he had left her multiple times and was "horrible", a court heard.

Fiona Beal, 49, is on trial and denies the murder of Nicholas Billingham in Northampton on 1 November 2021.

Her father Alan Beal recounted a time when his daughter was said to have made her partner a meal when he was ill, but he refused it and bought a takeaway.

Mr Billingham's remains were found four months after he was last seen alive.

Prosecutors at Northampton Crown Court alleged Ms Beal stabbed Mr Billingham, 42, in the neck with a knife in the bedroom of their home in Moore Street, Northampton.

The defence previously told the court Ms Beal would argue she was mentally "broken" at the time of the killing and is guilty of manslaughter, but not murder.

On Friday, Mr Beal told jurors his daughter said Mr Billingham had previously left her two or three times.

When Mr Billingham was said to have had Covid-19, Mr Beal said: "She took him a meal up and he said, 'I'm not eating that', and ordered a takeaway, just for himself. She said he was horrible."

Mr Beal said sometime later, Ms Beal told him that Mr Billingham had gone and "she didn't know where".

"She only said that he'd gone and taken all his things, he'd gone and that was it, he'd done it before," Mr Beal said.

'Really worried'

Ms Beal's barrister, Andrew Wheeler KC, addressed her father, saying Mr Billingham "seemed to you to be arrogant, superior to everyone else", to which Mr Beal agreed.

He also agreed he believed Mr Billingham was not a good influence, that he did not trust him and that one Christmas had "ruined the day for the whole family".

Mr Beal also confirmed to the court he understood Mr Billingham had a "gambling problem" and had a debt of £14,000.

Police searched Ms Beale's home after arresting her in Cumbria, the court was told

The court also heard the defendant had lied to her parents, telling them she was on a course in East Sussex in March last year, which did not exist.

Giving evidence, her mother Julia Beal said her daughter was planning to return on a certain day, but later got in touch to say she needed more time there, saying "she was in a bad place in her head and would stay on a few days".

Mrs Beal then got a call from her daughter's school on 11 March, when staff said they were worried about her daughter and she was then told there was no course.

"That really worried me," Mrs Beal said.

The school called the police and officers traced her to a holiday lodge in Cumbria using ANPR on her car, the court heard.

"We couldn't believe it because we thought she was in East Sussex. We were worried to death," Mrs Beal said.

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. His body was found under a mound of rubble in the couple's garden.

The trial continues.