The partner of a Scots mum who was raped and murdered just a few streets away from her home is planning to buy and demolish the abandoned building where she was brutally killed.
Leon Grant had known Jill Barclay since childhood, with the pair falling for each other later in life. They were together for 20 years and have two children, an eight-year-old daughter and son aged six.
Mr Grant, who now suffers from PTSD, says the recent court case to bring Jill's killer to justice has brought everything flooding back. Unable to bear the sight of the house where she was murdered, he is currently in talks with the property owners to purchase the building with the aim of knocking it down.
“I want to try and move forward,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to put anything else there – I just want to see it flattened. That bloody house is just niggling away at me.”
Jill had been walking home from the Spider’s Web pub in Dyce last September when she was stalked and attacked by Rhys Bennett. During the assault, the 22-year-old raped the mum-of-two before setting her on fire while she was still alive in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The 49-year-old's burnt remains were later found outside Farburn Gatehouse in the early hours of Saturday, September 17. Last week, Bennett was handed life sentence for her murder at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Mr Grant heard details of his partner's final moments from police at the time she was found, but said the newly added rape charge and the guilty plea from Bennett had brought him back to “square one”.
“But I feel like I’m in a loop – the court case has just brought it all back again. I’m reliving her last few hours over and over,” he said.
“I was diagnosed with PTSD last year after it happened – I just could not fathom what happened to poor Jill.
“I need to get some closure. We have found some kind of justice for Jill and the case is now closed. But it’s coming up for nearly a year now. The police erected the green fence to try and protect the site, and it is protecting it as best it can – but it’s time for it all to go.
“There are some real weirdos out there who would want to go and take photos of it all I’m sure, now the details have come out about the drain pipe and what else that happened.”
Mr Grant now wants to tear down the house and outbuildings that serve as a "constant reminder" of what Jill went through.
He said: “I’ve reached out to the Dyce in Bloom Gardening Club, I would maybe just donate it to them if they were willing to take it on. But I don’t want a memorial or anything, not there where she was murdered – I wouldn’t go there anyway.”
“Driving past the property is a constant reminder,” Mr Grant went on. “I want to try and buy it now, while I have the chance, before anyone does it up or rebuilds on it. The best thing for me would be to demolish it.”
Farburn Gatehouse was sold at auction just days before Jill was murdered at the site. A Land Registry search shows Mr Hafiza Abid, from Glasgow, is the new listed owner and when we contacted him he explained his business partner Mr Shahzad Hassan would be controlling the development of the property.
The pair, who own a takeaway and retail businesses in Glasgow, had originally planned to refurbish the house and had not ruled out future commercial uses for it. However, Mr Grant has since reached out to them to negotiate taking ownership of the property.
Mr Hassan said he was sympathetic to Mr Grant and offered his condolences, adding that he would accept a “reasonable offer”.
Mr Grant said he and Jill had often discussed what they would do if anything happened to the other, saying: “We both said the main thing was to make sure the kids were alright. I know it will get easier over time, but my main priority now is the kids and protecting them.
“I have always been a hands on dad, so taking on that role isn’t a problem. My son really misses his mum, he was a proper mummy’s boy - he just doesn’t understand; and my daughter has found it really difficult; she’s that little bit older.
“They don’t like me leaving their sight – they think there is still a bad man out there killing people. They don’t like me walking anywhere on my own.”
The family have been getting help from the Archie Foundation to help them come to term's with Jill's death and work through their grief.
Mr Grant wants to remain in the area and would “never, ever” move away, adding: “Jill and I bought this house together - so it has lots of memories. I couldn’t uproot the kids like that – they’re at school and have friends here. My main priority is protecting them now.”
A fundraising page has now been set up to help pay for the demolition of the building. Donations can be made by clicking here.
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