TEACHER ADMITS MANSLAUGHTER OF MAN FOUND IN GARDEN

A primary school teacher has admitted killing her partner whose tied up body was found buried in the garden.

The remains of Nicholas Billingham, 42, were found at a home in Moore Street, Northampton in March 2022, four and a half months after he was last seen.

A first trial heard Fiona Beal, 50, used his phone to send messages to friends and work colleagues, pretending that he was still alive.

On Friday at the Old Bailey, she admitted manslaughter before a retrial.

The Recorder of London, judge Mark Lucraft KC, told the jury at the Old Bailey that Beal pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter - but she denied murdering Mr Billingham between October 30 and November 10 2021.

Opening the murder trial, prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said: "She had planned to, and had, killed him in cold blood."

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2024-04-19T12:37:39Z dg43tfdfdgfd