A 23-year-old man today admitted raping an Aberdeen mum Jill Barclay and then burning her alive to cover up the evidence.
Rhys Bennett, from Fife, pled guilty to a single charge of assault, rape and murder.
He also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by setting fire to the mum-of-two in order to conceal evidence.
The court was told Bennett lay in wait for the 47-year-old before carrying out his act of “feral” violence.
At today’s court appearance at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Lord Arthurson sentenced him to a minimum of 24 years in prison for the assault, rape and murder and four years for attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
The judge branded Bennett’s crimes “unimaginably wicked” and “medieval in their barbarity”.
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Rhys Bennett guilty of murder
Bennett admitted assaulting the former Hazlehead Academy pupil by repeatedly striking, kicking and stamping on her head and body on September 17 last year at Farburn Gatehouse, Victoria Street, Dyce.
The charge described how Bennett also struck Jill’s head against a downpipe and inflicted blunt and sharp force trauma to her head and body.
Bennett also admitted dragging Jill along the ground, compressing her neck, placing clothing and other items underneath her body as she lay on the ground, pouring petrol on her and the clothing – along with other items – and setting fire to her.
He admitted burning clothes that he had worn at the time of his horrifying acts, fleeing the scene and washing some other items of his clothing.
Bennett “did conceal and destroy evidence linking” himself to the crimes “to avoid detection, arrest and prosecution,” the indictment stated.
Judge Lord Arthurson told Bennett: “Ms Barclay was a stranger to you. You followed her in the direction of the locus. There you waited or hid yourself from her view.
“You then proceeded to launch a murderous attack upon her, an attack which, upon the carefully reconstructed evidence available, plainly involved extreme, sustained and frankly feral violence inflicted by you upon her.”
Disturbing details of brutal killing
Bearded Bennett, wearing grey tracksuit bottoms and a grey shirt, stood before the judge, fists clenched, as details of the case were described to the court.
Lorraine Glancy KC told the court how the case against Bennett was built on CCTV evidence, vehicle tracking data and “strong forensic evidence” – her blood was found on him, the van he was driving and from items recovered from his home.
Ms Glancy said: “There are no eyewitnesses to the assault.”
Bennett followed Jill as she walked the 1.5 miles to her home. Ms Glancy said the motive for the attack was “sexual”.
She told the court how Jill and her friend had gone to a concert in Aberdeen’s Music Hall. Meanwhile, Bennett and his colleagues had finished work for the day and had gone back to their guest house, the Dunavon Hotel in Dyce’s Victoria Street.
Bennett went with his workmates to have a drink in the Spider’s Web pub. Jill and her friend arrived there just before 11pm.
The court heard that Jill came into contact with Bennett around 10 to 15 minutes later as she went outside in his company to have a cigarette. She later left the pub.
Killer stalked victim through streets
Ms Glancy said at about 12.40am, CCTV images captures Jill walking along the street – the accused can be seen following her.
Ms Glancy said: “Jill Barclay is apparently unaware that she is being followed by the accused at this point. At one point when Jill Barclay follows a bend in the road, the accused can be seen quickening his pace, running, presumably in an effort to catch up with her unnoticed.”
Ms Glancy said that later that night CCTV captured Jill again.
She said: “She is walking extremely slowly. She then stops for several seconds before making her way in the same direction as the accused.
“The footage is quite chilling. It shows Jill Barclay is wary of being too close to the accused.
“Having attempted on several occasions to distance herself from him, she is clearly very anxious, scared even, about the accused’s behaviour.”
The court heard that at the time of the attack, a dog walker was walking nearby.
Ms Glancy said: “He heard a high-pitched scream by a female voice followed by her shouting ‘No No No’.
“The scream and shouts came from the direction of the locus. The witness did not make any further investigation and did not contact police at this time.
“Other witnesses who live in a nearby flat also heard female screams and crying coming from the direction of the roundabout.”
Ms Glancy told the court how Bennett returned to the guesthouse before returning to the scene. She said that at 3.10am, CCTV captured a “very large, almost explosive fire ignite at the locus.”
He then drove back to Fife. An off-duty police officer saw the fire and contacted 999.
Firefighters attended the scene at 3.24am and found a woman on fire. At 3.41am, paramedics attended the scene and found her injuries were “incompatible with life” and they decided not to give her any treatment.
At 12.45pm on Saturday, September 17, Jill’s partner Leon Grant reported her missing. He gave police descriptions of her tattoos.
Ms Glancy said: “These were found to match those on the body of the deceased at the locus. The tattoos were subsequently photographed and shown to Leon Grant to confirm identification.
“Jill Barclay’s body was too badly fire damaged to be viewed by her family.”
Officers tracked Bennett to his home and took him to Kittybrewster Police station in Aberdeen. Detectives found his DNA on Jill’s fingernails. He was interviewed by police and made no comment answers to all questions asked.
Blood found in bathroom of guesthouse
The court also heard that Dr Tamara McNamee, a consultant forensic pathologist, carried out a post-mortem on Jill on September 18 2022. She recorded the cause of her death as blunt force head and facial injuries, external compression of the neck and the effects of fire.
The court heard that forensic biology examinations were carried out at the murder scene. Police were able to conclude from these exams that Jill may have been on her feet and moving around the scene while dripping blood before she died.
Officers also found Jill’s blood in the communal bathroom of Bennett’s guesthouse.
Ms Glancy said: “This finding is consistent with him having attempted to clean himself of Jill Barclay’s blood.”
The court heard that Jill’s blood was found on a T-shirt belonging to Bennett and his DNA was found on her mobile phone case.
Her blood was also found on surfaces in the van that Bennett was driving and from the bathroom sink of his home in Fife.
Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran KC said that his client had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
He said: “Rhys Bennett asked me to express not only his apology for the terrible harm that he has done … but he asks that we can confirm to the court his intention to continue the work he’s already started in prison with the psychological and psychiatric services – in trying to work out what happened – why he did what he did and what can be done to ensure that it could never happen again.”
Mr McSporran told the judge that his client’s “consistent position” has always been that “he has no recollection of what happened or why”.
‘To be crystal clear: you burned her alive’
During his sentencing remarks, Lord Arthurson said: “You attempted to move Ms Barclay, by then heavily bleeding, into the van.
“You moved her to the pathway at the side of the Gatehouse. The extent of blood impact spatter staining at an iron gate indicate that this was the site of your final assault.
“You returned to the van, retrieved a green jerry can containing petrol and used this as an accelerant to set fire to Ms Barclay, having deliberately doused items including clothing worn by you in petrol and placed these under Ms Barclay as she lay on the ground in an effort to conceal the evidence of your crimes.
“The available evidence tells the horrible truth that your victim was still living at the time that the fire was set. To be crystal clear: you burned her alive.”
‘This man has taken too much from us’
In a statement released after today’s hearing, Jill’s family said: “We would like to thank the family, friends and community for their comfort and support following Jill’s tragic death as we have waited for justice.
“Jill was a deeply loved partner, mother and daughter. She didn’t deserve to die that day and especially in the unspeakable, brutal way it happened. This man has taken too much from us and changed our lives forever.”
Following the hearing, the officer who led the inquiry, Detective Superintendent Andrew Patrick said: “I hope that today’s sentencing brings some comfort to Jill’s family and friends who have shown immense strength throughout this investigation. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.
“Jill’s senseless and brutal murder had a significant impact on the local community in Dyce and throughout the north-east.
“I would like to thank the public for their support throughout the investigation to bring Bennett to justice.
“This was a particularly harrowing investigation and it deeply affected everyone involved. I am glad that Bennett will now face the consequences of his depraved and wicked actions.
Read more: Mum’s murder sparked outpouring of compassion
“Thankfully crimes like these are extremely rare in our communities. When such incidents take place we will use all resources necessary to carry out thorough, rigorous inquiries to ensure we track down those responsible to bring them to justice as swiftly as possible.”
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