Fiona Beal Trial: Mistress posted baby scan picture to the home of Northampton teacher accused of murdering her partner

“I am just a mum that wants the best for her child,” writes Nicholas Billingham’s mistress to the former Northampton teacher Fiona Beal, who is accused of murdering her partner Mr Billingham.

Jurors at Northampton Crown Court today (March 22) heard more evidence from the woman who Mr Billingham had an affair with during his relationship with Beal.

When asked by prosecutor Steven Perian KC to describe Mr Billingham, she said: “He was kind, gentle, loving and fun to be with.”

She said that Mr Billingham never lost his temper with her, he has never been violent or abusive and never tried to control her.

The court has previously heard that Mr Billingham is a “non-confrontational” person. The woman told jurors today that, if they ever had an argument, he would just “remove himself from the situation.”

She added: “He didn’t want to hurt anybody. He wanted to keep everyone happy.”

The court heard that Mr Billingham told the other woman during their on-and-off relationship that he was living with Beal but they were no longer together as a couple and slept separately.

Their relationship was on-and-off as Mr Billingham would return to Beal even after repeatedly telling the woman that he would leave his partner - but then return to the other woman again.

The woman eventually found out that Beal and Mr Billingham never broke up and she split up with him as a result, the court heard.

Andrew Wheeler KC, defending Beal, asked the woman if she began to see a pattern of Mr Billingham “taking off and coming back whenever he felt like it.” The witness responded yes.

Mr Wheeler asked how this made her feel. She replied: “Quite sad but, by then, I was already in love with him.”

Jurors were then shown two hand-written letters composed by the woman addressed to Beal.

The first letter was posted to Beal and Mr Billingham’s Earls Barton home and it included a scan of the baby Mr Billingham fathered with the woman along with a note saying, “Nick you forgot to take this picture after the scan. Our beautiful baby boy.”

In the enclosed letter, the woman wrote that Mr Billingham told her that he would never get back together with Beal and she knew about the baby.

“Now it’s clear he was lying to me; which makes me think that he’s not actually being honest with you either,” the woman wrote. She then detailed Mr Billingham’s affair with her.

She wrote: “There will be no trust - you will always wonder where he is, what he’s doing and who he’s with…”

“The excuses he gave you every time - I know all of them.”

She told Beal that Mr Billingham stayed with her mostly because he was “financially stable” and “never because he still loves you.”

The letter said: “If you do know everything; like he told me you do then I’m guessing you’re more than happy to play step mum…?”

The woman then provided her mobile number at the end of the letter.

The court heard that - after hearing nothing back for several months - the woman sent a further letter. Only, this time, it was addressed to the school where Beal worked at the time.

In it, she told Beal that Mr Billingham wants nothing to do with their baby but she is trying to do the right thing by her child “which any good mother would do.”

The letter read: “You really don’t need to worry about me - I do not want him back after all the lies and walking out on us when we needed him the most - I will not forgive him for that.

“I am just a mum that wants the best for her child and it’s such a shame if we cannot be grown up about this and come to an amicable agreement between ourselves, or at least discuss it like adults.

“That’s all I’ve been trying to do with Nick for months but it seems he’s not mature enough to have a discussion about this.”

When the woman was asked what she thought she wanted to happen after sending those letters, she responded: “I wanted my [baby] to have his dad.”

In a statement read aloud to court, a local decorator said he met Mr Billingham when he was working on a property in Moore Street in Spring 2021 and Mr Billingham helped out.

The decorator said: “I got to know him quite well and he was a chatty and friendly person.”

He said that Mr Billingham only ever mentioned Beal in passing and he once talked about a fling he had but the decorator could not remember the details of that.

The decorator last heard from Mr Billingham on November 1, 2021 when they exchanged text messages. That is the day police believed Mr Billingham was killed.

Mr Billingham was sent further messages by the decorator on 9 November, 14 November and 22 November asking if he was okay and where he was but received no response until November 25.

Mr Billingham’s text response read: “Got out of dodge! Gambling and women mate!”

The decorator said he did not respond to that message. He added: “I thought it was a bit strange as he was so tight with money so I could never imagine him gambling it away.”

A man, who went to school with Mr Billingham and knew him for around 35 years took to the witness stand today.

He told the court that he had been to Beal and Mr Billingham’s Moore Street home around 10 times and described their relationship as “sound.”

He continued: “I didn’t notice anything out of place. They were like a normal couple. She was making dinner. We were watching football and having a beer.”

The friend described Mr Billingham as a “private bloke” and said it was not unusual if he did not hear from Mr Billingham for months or even a year at a time.

The trial continues.