Fiona Beal Trial: ‘Something wasn’t right’, says Nicholas Billingham’s friend who looked for him at alleged murderer’s home

A close friend of Nicholas Billingham thought “something wasn’t right” when he went to Mr Billingham’s house to be told he does not live there anymore weeks after his alleged murder, a trial has heard.

A close friend of Mr Billingham was invited to testify at Northampton Crown Court today (March 23) during the ongoing trial of Fiona Beal, the former Eastfield Academy year six teacher accused of murdering her boyfriend Nicholas Billingham.

The witness told jurors he met Mr Billingham around 15 years ago when he was a plumber for Mr Billingham and Beal’s landlord in Earls Barton, when the pair lived in Compton Way.

The court heard that Mr Billingham told the close friend about an affair he had with another woman, resulting in her pregnancy, and started crying.

The friend said: “I know he wanted to get back with Fiona. He was quite depressed, saying ‘what have I done?’”

He added: “He’s a very heart on your sleeve sort of guy. He was very emotional and didn’t hold back so, when he was upset, you would just see that he was upset. He was just a lovely bloke.”

The court heard that, during this time, Mr Billingham was in a bedsit in Earls Barton and complained about sharing the electricity bill with people who were at home all day while he worked. He was also getting counselling and visiting this friend to seek advice about getting back together with Beal.

The friend said: “My advice to him was you have got to take it slow because of what you have done.”

When prosecutor, Steven Perian KC, asked the friend why Mr Billingham - who has previously been described to the court as “a private man” - chose to confide in him, the witness replied: “I have no idea. I think he just needed someone to talk to.”

Andrew Wheeler KC, defending Beal, asked the witness if Mr Billingham gave the impression that he felt “financially secure” with Beal wanted to get back together with her so that he could move back into their house. The friend replied no and said Mr Billingham had savings to buy a property if Beal did not take him back.

The court heard that Beal allowed Mr Billingham to move back into their Earls Barton home on two conditions.

The first condition was for Mr Billingham to give up self employment and get a job so they can buy a property; the second condition was to move out of the village so he was not near the woman he got pregnant, jurors were told.

The couple moved to Moore Street in Kingsley, Northampton in February 2020.

The friend, who had visited the couple’s new home around 10 times, said: “I thought Fiona was a star for taking him back after the affair and the child. I thought they were fine and they were finally happy.”

When the witness was asked why he thought the couple were “finally happy,” he said that when Mr Billingham got back with Beal and got the mortgage, “everything was going right for them. He was a happy person.”

The last time the friend saw Mr Billingham in person was sometime in October 2021, the court heard. He said that although the pair were close, it was typical for them not to see each other for a couple of months.

Mr Billingham would usually drop by this friend’s house every December, deliver a case of beer and they would joke, laugh and wish each other merry Christmas - the court heard.

“He was a very giving man and had a heart of gold,” the friend told the court.

He said he did not hear at all from Mr Billingham for the rest of that year.

Fast forward to January 12, 2022 - someone called the friend to say they could not get ahold of Mr Billingham.

“That got me thinking, where is he?” The witness said.

That same day, the friend went to the Moore Street house, where he noticed Mr Billingham’s work van was gone and he was “taken aback” to be told that Mr Billingham no longer lives there.

“Walking away, it just felt weird. I don’t know. Like something wasn’t right,” the witness told jurors.

When asked why, the friend said Mr Billingham was so depressed when he could not get back with Fiona and he worked so hard on the house and getting the mortgage.

He said: “For him just not to be there and say he does not live here anymore, it was just wrong. It didn’t ring right with me.”

The trial continues.