The murder suspect accused of torturing and killing his neighbor is on trial

A convicted murderer sexually assaulted, tortured and beat to death a retired rider, a court heard.

Brian Whitelock, 57, attacked his neighbor Wendy Buckney, 71, with a kitchen knife, broken table legs and wooden shelves during a sustained attack in her own home.

The bloodied and naked pensioner was found in the living room of his home in Clydach, near Swansea, on August 23, 2022.

Swansea Crown Court heard Whitelock was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and manslaughter in 2001 and was released from prison in 2018.

He beat Nicholas Morgan to death with an ax handle and set his body on fire. Whitelock’s sleeping brother, Glen, died in the subsequent fire.

Prosecutor Christopher Rees KC told the jury Whitelock had a long history of drug addiction and violence.

“Ms Buckney must have suffered greatly at the hands of this defendant before she died – you will hear evidence of multiple stab wounds, sharp force injuries and blunt force injuries inflicted on her,” he said.

“You will also hear evidence that she was sexually assaulted; it is not forensically possible to say whether this was done by the defendant before, during or after the attack on her.”

The jury was told Whitelock went to Miss Buckney’s flat fully clothed, but when he was seen by a neighbor hours later he found only his trousers worn inside out and covered in blood.

“Following his arrest, the defendant admitted not only killing her but also ‘torturing’ her with various objects,” Mr Rees said.

“The defendant, who was arrested at the scene, confessed to killing Ms. Buckney.

“When he was taken for medical assessment before police questioning, his version changed and he told police he found Ms Buckney with multiple, horrific and fatal injuries but also wanted to have sex with her.

“When he was finally formally interviewed by the police in the presence of his lawyer, he completely changed his account.

“He denied that he was the person responsible for killing Miss Buckney.

“He claimed that he discovered her and saw some suspicious figures outside her house, so it might have been someone else who killed her.

“He told police when he entered his apartment he found her either dead or injured and that he tried to help her.”

His neighbor, Jeffrey Llewellyn, alerted the police after Whitelock told him, “I killed Wendy.”

Kneeling on the front lawn and wiping the dirt off his body, Whitelock continued to shout: “I killed him, there’s fresh flesh hanging off him. He’s lying there face down. I don’t know why I did this. “He was good to me.”

He was arrested by police at the scene and told officers: “I tried to clean him up, like I’m trying to help him now, but it’s too late now.

“I absolutely killed him, it was like he was begging me to stop and then I touched him, he was cold as a stone… literally whole chunks of flesh were falling off him, I don’t deserve to be alive, it’s like, I should like I’m alive.”

He added: “It looks like I tortured her, I really did. She was begging me to stop.”

Whitelock, of Tanycoed Road, Clydach, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denies murder.

Mr Rees explained that the defendant’s case was that he suffered head injuries on 1 August and 16 and 17 August, which supported his claim of diminished responsibility.

“The prosecution’s case is that the defendant used a knife, a table leg and a shelf to inflict the most horrific injuries on Ms Buckney,” he said.

“The prosecution says that the brutality and sustained nature of the attack go beyond demonstrating an intent to cause actual serious bodily injury, but do suggest an intent to kill Ms Buckley.”

A consultant psychiatrist examined Whitelock and concluded that he was mentally ill at the time of Miss Buckney’s death, but later produced a second report stating that he was not suffering from a mental abnormality and that his behavior was due to substance abuse.

At the start of the trial, Mr Justice Griffiths told the jury that Whitelock was unrepresented and was defending himself.

The trial continues.