Father guilty of murdering eight-year-old Mylee Billingham
The unemployed factory worker stabbed his daughter through the chest with a knife in an act of revenge against his ex-partner.
Monday 1 October 2018 23:45, UK
A man has been found guilty of murdering his young daughter and making a threat to kill his ex-partner.
Unemployed factory worker William Billingham stabbed eight-year-old Mylee through the chest with a kitchen knife in an act of revenge against his ex-partner, a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Moments before killing his daughter, Billingham, 55, had held the knife to the neck of Mylee's mother Tracey Taundry, 34.
Billingham claimed he could not remember stabbing Mylee and he did not give evidence during the nine-day trial.
He had said he was guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter, due to depression.
Prosecutors disagreed, saying that he had killed Mylee to punish Miss Taundry for beginning a relationship with another woman.
Prosecutor Karim Khalil QC described the killing as "swift, deliberate, clinical, brutal...not some manic unfocused assault".
He added: "This was no accident and it was not a slight injury - it was a deep, violent thrust of a lethal weapon into the most vulnerable part of his young daughter's body."
Jurors were told that Miss Taundry had been outside Billingham's house in Brownhills, near Walsall, as her daughter was murdered.
She had called 999, telling operators to hurry, as she could hear Mylee pleading with her father to stop.
Detective Inspector Jim Colclough, of the West Midlands Police homicide unit, said officers sent to the house were "confronted by extremely upsetting scenes".
Mylee was lying injured under her father and "everybody worked together tirelessly to try and save her", he said.
"Right from when officers first attended and were desperately trying to administer crucial first aid on his daughter, he refused to cooperate or even tell them her name.
"In fact all he could manage to utter was the words 'COPD' which relate to a lung condition he suffers from - it demonstrates how selfish he is; his daughter was fighting for her life and all he was concerned with was himself.
"A young girl, who had her whole life ahead of her, has been cruelly taken by someone who she loved and trusted.
"This is a despicable act on a defenceless child."
A psychiatrist said Billingham was aggressive, controlling and prone to violence towards women, especially at the end of relationships.
One of his previous partners told police she was headbutted by him during their relationship and harassed by him for two years after they broke up.
The father of six was convicted in 1990 of causing actual bodily harm in an attack on his girlfriend at the time and he was cautioned twice in 2007 and 2012 after allegations of violence towards Miss Taundry.
Billingham had suffered "some sort of breakdown" during the trial, according to his lawyer David Mason QC.
In comments made in the jury's absence - which were not able to be reported until the conclusion of the trial - Mr Mason said: "From speaking to him, he found the events at court - particularly watching evidence by way of CCTV footage of his daughter - highly distressing."
Billingham missed three days of the trial while in hospital following the apparent suicide attempt.
The jury deliberated for around 80 minutes before convicting Billingham. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.
An NSPCC spokesman said: "We all have a duty to look out for a child's welfare and reporting concerns as soon as possible is hugely important. The NSPCC's helpline is available 24/7, 365 days a year, on 0808 800 5000."