Fiona Beal Trial: Neighbour left ‘in shock’ after ‘awkward’ encounter with Nicholas Billingham at party, court hears

Friends and neighbours of former teacher Fiona Beal and her partner Nicholas Billingham - who Beal is accused of murdering - have told Northampton Crown Court that the victim made them feel “uncomfortable” when he was alive.

Six witnesses - a mixture of friends, neighbours and colleagues - took the stand separately today (Friday, June 16) to give evidence about the behaviours they witnessed from Beal, aged 49, and her partner Mr Billingham, who Beal fatally stabbed in their Moore Street home on November 1, 2021 and buried in the garden.

A close friend of Beal’s said she met Mr Billingham around 18 years ago when she visited the couple’s Compton Way home in Earls Barton with her husband.

“One of the first things he said to me was that I was Fiona’s best looking friend,” she said. “It struck me as being inappropriate, insensitive and very odd.”

The witness then recalled another occasion when she attended a barbecue at Beal’s address whilst visibly pregnant and she claimed Mr Billingham made a comment about her breasts getting big, which made her feel “uncomfortable.”

Her husband, who was questioned separately, was asked what he thought of Mr Billingham as a person. He said: “From what he said to the wife, I didn’t have a great deal of like for the guy. He was quite smarmy to be honest, in my opinion.”

When questioned further, he said this was just in relation to the comments specifically. On his general impression of Mr Billingham’s character, he said: “He seemed a normal guy. We had a lot in common, we both liked Manchester United and we both liked cars at the time.”

Beal’s friend said that, outside of making those comments, he seemed “reasonably friendly,” “happy-go-lucky” and an “orderly” person who liked things to be clean. She felt that Mr Billingham could relate to her more because she was also a “tidy” person and he would “jest” that Beal should be more like her.

She described Beal as being “confident, funny, clever” and “good to be around” when she was younger but became “subdued” further into the relationship with Mr Billingham. The witness said that Beal regained her “spark” when she began teaching.

A woman, who lived next door to Beal and Mr Billingham in Earls Barton for three years, said that Mr Billingham would get dropped off outside his house but, instead of going home to Fiona, he would walk straight into the neighbour’s house.

She said this happened about four times a week for a year.

“The door was always unlocked and he would just come in,” the neighbour said. She claimed they would chat and she would make him a cup of tea. She said that it did not feel harmful because her children were present and neither she - or her husband - ever asked Mr Billingham to not come to their house.

The neighbour described Mr Billingham as a “very outgoing and friendly and a very confident person.” She also got on “really well” with Beal but described her as a “closed book” and “very quiet.”

The court heard that the neighbour hosted a leaving party in 2009 when she was moving out of Compton Way and she invited Beal and her partner round with a few friends.

“I went upstairs in my property to go to the bathroom and I turned around and Nick was by the bannister on the stairs,” the witness said, “I looked at Nick and he said ‘I want to **** you.’”

She told jurors this made her feel “very uncomfortable and awkward.”

She added: “I just walked away awkwardly. I didn’t know what to say. It was a bit of a shock.”

The neighbour told her husband what happened after the party but Mr Billingham was never confronted about what happened because the friendship “fizzled out” after they moved away, the court heard.

Another former neighbour, who previously lived in Beal and Mr Billingham’s rented Compton Way house, showed the couple around the property before they moved there in 2013. She then moved into the neighbouring property around six months to a year later.

When asked about her impression of Beal, the neighbour said she seemed “quite quiet and nice,” and “smiled.”

The neighbour said that she would often see Mr Billingham a lot around Earls Barton and in the local pub but she would never see Beal out with him.

The court heard that the neighbour would often see Mr Billingham doing the gardening or washing his car typically twice a week, which she thought was “obsessive.”

She said that, on a couple of occasions, Mr Billingham asked her to move her car on their communal driveway so that he could clean his car. She refused, saying that he already had plenty of room, and she claimed that Mr Billingham became “frustrated” as a result.

The neighbour told jurors she would avoid going out into the back garden when Mr Billingham was outside so that she did not have any “awkward” encounters with him.

“He made me feel uncomfortable, if I’m honest, just because I found him quite flirty so I tended to avoid getting into conversation with him,” she told the court.

The court previously heard that Mr Billingham did not live at the Compton Way property for a period of time because Beal made him leave after finding out about an affair.

A neighbour, today, told jurors that - during this time - Beal seemed “more relaxed” and “happy,” she would be out in her garden more often and strike closer friendships with her neighbours.

Esther Harrison, prosecuting, asked the neighbour if it would be fair to say that Beal was out in her garden more during this time because she was doing the gardening work that Mr Billingham previously did. “Yes”, she answered.

The trial continues.