Fiona Beal: Primary school teacher brutally murdered lover then ‘used COVID as a cover to bury him in garden’

A primary school teacher stabbed her cheating boyfriend in the neck in a ‘chilling domestic execution’, then told friends she had Covid to buy herself time to bury him in their garden, a court heard yesterday.

Fiona Beal, 50, lured Nick Billingham, 42, into the bedroom for sex and then knifed him when he was tied to the bed on November 1, 2021, the Old Bailey was told.

Prosecutor Hugh Davies, KC, said Beal had planned the murder, buying a knife in advance.

The ‘highly capable’ teacher then told friends the pair had tested positive for Covid-19 so she would not be disturbed while she buried the builder in the garden at their Northampton home, jurors heard.

His body was found four months later in a makeshift grave after Beal’s journals – where she’d plotted the killing as her alter ego ‘Tulip22’ – were found by police, it was said.

Beal spent months using her partner’s phone to message his friends and relatives pretending he was still alive and had moved in with another woman, the court heard.

Mr Billingham had had affairs before and moved out of their home, but they always reconciled, the court heard.

Beal admits manslaughter but denies murder, claiming the partial defence of ‘loss of control’.

Mr Davies said: ‘Central to the plan was knowing that after stabbing him, if she claimed she had Covid, she would have ten days to bury him and cover up her crime.’

He continued: ‘She stabbed him in his jugular vein in his neck . . . late on November 1. The clean-up started as early as 01.07am on November 2.

Using her dead partner’s account, and then hers on Amazon, she bought multiple cleaning products, including for Venetian blinds, a new mop and bucket, ultra-heavy-duty bin bags, a new mattress, bedding, wall art . . . ‘This is considered, controlled conduct that is on the one hand intrinsically practical, and on the other indulgent.

Beal had written in her journal that Mr Billingham asked ‘why?’ after she stabbed him, the court heard.

In his opening speech to the jury, defence barrister Andrew Wheeler, KC, said: ‘This case is not as straightforward as the prosecution suggests.

Fiona Beal is a lady of good character, a partner to Nick Billingham for 17 years, a hard-working and thoroughly liked school teacher.

‘So how does that person suddenly go on to kill? ‘What caused that dramatic change; what was the catalyst that led to these very tragic circumstances?

‘You will hear evidence Ms Beal suffered from mental health issues, but also that she was in a coercive and controlling relationship with Mr Biillingham.

‘He was physically domineering and over the years he wore her down until she was quite literally broken.’

The trial, which is expected to last for six weeks, continues.