A fundraising bid to pay for the purchase and bulldozing of a building where the body of Scots mum Jill Barclay was found has received £10,000 in donations.
The 47-year-old was walking home from a night out in Dyce, Aberdeen, when she was followed and attacked by evil Rhys Bennett. Her body was found by emergency services who were called to the scene in the early hours of September 17 last year.
Killer Bennett, 22, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder. Following the tragedy, Jill's partner, Leon Grant, 49, told Aberdeen Live how he wants to demolish the site where she was killed.
It was previously bought at auction days before Jill's murder for £76,000. The owners, Glasgow businessmen Hafiza Abid and Shahzad Hassan, have agreed to sell the building for £87,000 including commissions and legal fees.
Some of Jill's closest friends have joined Mr Grant in launching the £90,000 GoFundMe this week to finance the sale as well as covering demolition costs. The fundraiser initially had a £100,000 target but this was reduced on Saturday, June 3 after works were estimated at around £3,000.
The building will not be a memorial to Jill but enquiries have been made to Dyce Gardening Club about taking on the space. Hundreds of donations have flooded into the fundraiser, with two anonymous people donating £1,000 each. It took just three days for the campaign to reach the £10,000 mark.
A spokeswoman for the Friends of Jill Barclay group said previously: "Jill was such a good person, and got me through quite a difficult time when I had post-natal depression. We are doing this for Leon and the kids. We don’t want them to have the added stress and trauma of having to pass this house every day. We know Jill would not have wanted them to go through any extra upset."
The Justice Secretary Angela Constance recently met with a senior member of Scotland’s judiciary over guidelines on the sentencing of young people - after public outcry on cases, including that of Jill murder.
An update on the GoFundMe page on Saturday stated: "Thank you so much to everyone who has very kindly donated so far. You may have noticed that the target amount has been reduced to £90,000. The purchase price including fees is £87k and we have been told demolition will be £3k, hence the lower figure. Jill’s partner is looking into the possibility of then gifting the land to the Scottish trust.
"As soon as he knows more about how this will look, we will update again. Once again, thank you all so much and feel free to share the page far and wide to make this happen."
See the GoFundMe page here.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.
