Primary teacher admits murdering lover and burying his body in garden

She tied him to bed with lure of sex then stabbed him in neck

- Paul Jeeves

A TEACHER who plunged a knife into her love-cheat partner's neck after luring him with the promise of adventurous sex admitted murder midway through her trial yesterday.

Fiona Beal, 50, persuaded Nicholas Billingham, 42, to put on a sleep mask and bound him to their bed before fatally stabbing him.

She previously admitted killing her lover but claimed it was manslaughter by reason of loss of control after discovering the builder, who had already made one lover pregnant, had embarked on another affair.

But in a dramatic U-turn mid-trial, she yesterday changed her plea to guilty of murder, the jury at the Old Bailey was told. She will be sentenced next month.

Mummified

Following the killing, which detectives believe happened on November 1, 2021, Beal messaged her headteacher claiming to have contracted Covid and needing 10 days to self-isolate.

This gave her time to drag Mr Billingham's body downstairs and bury it beneath soil, bark and paving slabs before adding a plant pot for "decorative effect".

She then set-about cleaning and painting the blood-splattered bedroom of their Northampton home.