The owner of the property where Aberdeen mum Jill Barclay was brutally raped and murdered plans to move into the house with his family, The Press and Journal can reveal.
“Devastated” campaigners behind a community buyout bid had wanted to demolish the site but the current owner said they were “taking too long” to buy it from him.
Shahzad Hassan paid £76,000 with a business partner to purchase the derelict Farburn Gatehouse in Dyce days before Jill was killed in September 2022.
He had been open to offers but, after “nearly a year”, he told The Press and Journal that he “can’t wait” any longer for a crowdfund or trust to raise the necessary funds.
A group called Friends Of Jill Barclay had been supporting Leon Grant, Jill’s partner of 20 years, who wanted to raze the land – a “daily reminder” of her “horrific” death that has been “niggling away” at him and other residents, they said previously.
Jill Barclay murder house to be refurbished for family use, Dyce property owner says
Mr Hassan told The P&J: “It’s been nearly a year and they don’t know how long they’re going to take.
“That’s why my family decided to move in. It’s better than just waiting. We’re going to get it refurbished and move there.”
Mr Hassan said he has family in the area and had already planned to relocate from Glasgow when he purchased the property at auction.
Asked how he felt about moving his family into the notorious north-east address, he replied: “We feel bad about it but we can’t just leave it like that.
“I know it was a bad thing that happened. We feel sorry for the family but what can we do?
“I’ve waited for too long. I can’t leave that property just like that. I bought it for the family to live there as their home.”
Friends Of Jill Barclay campaign group ‘devastated’ not to secure Aberdeen mum’s Dyce murder site for demolition
An online GoFundMe page had already raised more than £35,000 towards the potential purchase of the property.
Mr Hassan had previously said he would accept a “reasonable offer”.
But, on Wednesday, Friends Of Jill Barclay took to the internet to break the news that their efforts had failed.
In an update posted online, they explained: “Avenues for raising funds have been looked into multiple times and Aberdeen City Council approached numerous times.
“A trust fund had been in motion, championed by a group of local councillors, we thank them for their efforts.
“No large companies that have premises in the area came forward to help and we are now out of time. We are devastated.”
Anyone who donated to the crowdfunding page will receive a refund in seven to 10 days, organisers said.
And a spokeswoman for the group added: “We are understandably devastated by the recent change of plans with regards to the gatehouse and are saddened that we have been unable to raise the funds to purchase and demolish this constant reminder in a timely manner.
“We respect the rights of the owner to proceed as he wishes with the gatehouse.”
Aberdeen mum Jill Barclay’s Dyce murder was ‘extreme, sustained and frankly feral’
Gruesome details of the 47-year-old mother-of-two’s final moments were revealed at the High Court in Edinburgh when Rhys Bennett pled guilty to her rape and murder.
Bennett, 23, had followed the unsuspecting woman as she innocently walked home from a night out with friends – hiding out of her view before the predator pounced.
The pair had met earlier in the local Spider’s Web pub after Jill attended the Adam Ant concert in the city’s Music Hall.
But her fun-filled night out ended in horrific tragedy when Bennett cornered her opposite the BP petrol station next to the roundabout where Stoneywood Road meets Victoria Street.
The dangerous rapist unleashed “extreme, sustained and frankly feral violence” on the former Hazlehead Academy pupil, a judge later said.
Bennett repeatedly struck, kicked and stamped on Jill’s head and body on September 17 2022, also striking her head against a downpipe and inflicting blunt and sharp force trauma to Jill’s head and body.
Bennett also admitted dragging his terrified victim 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 while she was still alive.
Loved ones previously said in a statement that Jill was “a deeply-loved life partner, mother and daughter”.
Friends described Jill as having “a heart of gold” and said that she was “true to the core”.
And her employer, the energy firm Petrofac, described their proposals engineer as “much-loved and respected” by colleagues.
She was just 300 yards away from arriving at her family home at the time she died.
READ MORE: What the judge told Rhys Bennett as he jailed him for Jill Barclay’s murder
Bryan Rutherford: We can learn lessons from Jill Barclay’s senseless murder – let that be her legacy
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