Fiona Beal Trial: Northampton teacher who killed partner tells court she was ‘frightened’ of him when he drank

A former Northampton teacher accused of murdering her partner has told a court that he became “unpredictable” and “abusive” when he drank and she was “frightened” of him.

Fiona Beal, aged 49, denied thinking “the game was up” one month before her attempted suicide and arrest in March 2021.

Prosecutor Steven Perian KC, previously put to the defendant, that she began penning what he called her “confession book” in February 2021 because she knew that police would start searching for Nicholas Billingham, who she admits unlawfully killing in November 2021 before burying him in their garden.

She denies murder, however, due to her state of mind at the time, claiming she was in a coercive relationship with Mr Billingham that left her “broken.”

Andrew Wheeler KC, defending Beal, read out some of the defendant’s handwritten notes from one of the notebooks discovered at the Cumbrian Lodge she stayed at in March 2021 in the days leading up to her arrest.

In them, she describes the “beautiful” scenes of the Lake District and then, a few pages later, writes that she has been reported missing to the police and she thinks it is “the end of the road.” She then decides to write how she “ended up here” in her “rambling thoughts book.”

Mr Wheeler told the court this shows she did not decide to write the journal confessing to killing Mr Billingham until after getting to the Lake District.

The former Eastfield Academy teacher told jurors she could not remember watching pornography on Mr Billingham’s phone after November 1, 2021 or making a series of amazon purchases on his account.

“They were quite a surprise to me when I read them,” the defendant said.

Mr Wheeler asked Beal, of Moore Street, to describe Mr Billingham both in the company of others and behind closed doors.

Beal said: “With company, he would be the life and soul of the party and would be very sociable but, behind closed doors, he would become more abusive.”

The defendant claimed that Mr Billingham would try to “pick fights” with her and often criticise her looks and compare her to other people.

The court heard that, after the couple moved to Moore Street in February 2020, Mr Billingham attended a nearby working men’s club once a week.

Beal told jurors that he became “unpredictable” when he consumed alcohol, which “scared” her.

“I was very wary and tried to avoid any confrontation,” Beal said.

“How would you feel when he came back, having been drinking, and you could hear him coming back into the house?” Mr Wheeler asked the defendant.

“I became more frightened but I was also more alert trying to make sure there was nothing that could set him off.”

Mr Wheeler concluded his re-examination of Beal.

The trial continues.