Northampton primary school teacher Fiona Beal sentenced to life in prison for murdering partner Nick Billingham and burying him in the back garden

Beal appeared for sentencing at a two-day hearing at the Old Bailey in London having changed her plea to guilty to murder last month just a few days into the retrial of her case.

The 50-year-old had initially admitted only the manslaughter of Mr Billingham at the house they shared in Moore Street, Kingsley, sometime between October 30 and November 10, 2021.

Sentencing her to serve a minimum term of 20 years, The Recorder of London, His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC, described Beal’s lack of remorse as well as the “significant degree of planning and pre-meditation” she showed in murdering Nick.

“Not only did you kill Nick Billingham,” he said. “You intended to do so. And having moved and buried his body in the garden, you lied to his mother, his numerous friends and family, as well as your own family, about what you had done.”

Describing Beal’s contact with Nick’s mother following the killing, including the pre-Christmas drink at the house in Moore Street as well as the text messages sent from Nick’s phone, Judge Lucraft said: “These can only be described as truly callous acts.”

Beal showed no emotion as her sentence was past.

Hugh Davies KC, prosecuting for the Crown, had earlier told the hearing that Beal had carried out the “controlled execution” of her 42-year-old partner before burying his body in the back garden of their home while claiming she was off work due to a Covid infection.

Mr Billingham’s remains were finally discovered by Northamptonshire Police in March 2022 after Beal had been found in a distressed state at a holiday lodge cabin in Cumbria where she had self-harmed.

The trigger for a decline in her mental health had likely been, the court was told, a visit to her home by a PCSO concerned for the safety of Mr Billingham’s van that was parked near a tree during heavy storms in February 2022, nearly four months after the murder.

Inside the holiday home, police recovered a handwritten “confession journal” in which Beal had detailed how she had planned the murder and disposal of his body.

Within the journal, Beal detailed an alter-ego personality she called “Tulip 22” who, the jury had been told at the start of her retrial, was “capable of wholly different and darker conduct than her public persona of committed teacher and parent”.

Police discovered a bloodstained mattress in the cellar of the home and Mr Billingham’s partly decomposed body was discovered buried under the side return of her terraced house in Northampton.

Mr Davies yesterday told the court that Beal had lured her victim to bed on the promise of sex but instead had stabbed him in the neck causing fatal blood loss. It was almost certain that he had been cable-tied to the bed at the time of the lethal attack, the court heard.

Describing the discovery by Northamptonshire Police of Mr Billingham’s body, Mr Davies said: “His grave was an extraordinary construction of makeshift layers of sheeting, concrete she had mixed, a de facto coffin with sides and a top of breeze blocks, timber, sheets, all topped off with multiple bags of compost. She added a pot plant for decorative effect.

“The body was partly decomposed, indeed mummified, on its back. Ancient Egyptians buried Pharaohs with their treasure - Nick Billingham was unceremoniously entombed with his building waste and unwanted old bedsheets and blankets. It demonstrated nothing but complete contempt.”

University-educated Beal returned to her teaching role for several months in the wake of the murder but had continued to use her partner’s phone to send messages to his family and friends as if he were alive, including one text, on December 30 2021, to his mother to say he had been to see his beloved Manchester United at Old Trafford and was looking forward to the New Year.

Beal, a heavy user of strong cannabis, had also used the phone to view pornography on a frequent basis and go online shopping using her victim’s bank account.

Mr Davies told the court: “Her conduct afterwards is an exercise in self-control, deception and concealing her crime, she carried on at work and in her personal life as normal…Stated shortly and simply she was obviously not entitled – any more than any other person is who is in an unhappy relationship – to start a new life by ending that of her partner.”

Mr Davies finished by reading the Victim Impact Statement of Mr Billingham’s mother, Yvonne Valentine, in which she said: “I want you to spend the rest of your life going over what you did to Nick, the pain and suffering that you put him through when you killed him and the total disregard for him as a human being when you buried him like he was a piece of rubbish in his own back garden.

“I want you to remember that he will always be loved and that he will always be missed.

"You have faced judgement in court and will now have to face God’s judgement for eternity. You are pure evil.”

Andrew Wheeler KC, mitigating, said Beal was of previous good character and had been a “fantastic” teacher at her primary school, adding that the defendant had a long history of depression. She had shown courage, he said, in pleading guilty to murder.

Beal originally went on trial for murder at Northampton Crown court last March, but after a hearing that lasted almost four months, the case collapsed for legal reasons.

Following today’s sentencing, the mother of murdered Nicholas Billingham branded Beal a “monster” and “pure evil”, who must now spend many years asking why she killed him.

A detective sergeant from Northamptonshire Police also issued a statement, describing the murder as “pre-planned and cold-blooded”.