William Beggs

Case record: William Beggs

Background

William Beggs was originally from Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland. He was 38.

Beggs was convicted in 1987 of murdering Barry Oldham, a barman he met in a gay nightclub. During the trial, the court was told that Beggs picked up the 28-year-old student in a Newcastle nightclub. He was said to have killed Mr Oldham in his flat after having sex. Beggs was said to have tried to cut off Mr Oldham’s head and legs before dumping his body on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Beggs served less than two years of the life sentence for the murder of Barry Oldham. In 1989 his conviction was quashed after appeal judges criticised evidence led by the prosecution. Beggs returned to prison two years later after being convicted of slashing a gay man at his flat.

In 1991 Beggs was jailed for slashing the leg of a man who escaped by jumping through a glass window. Beggs was released early from his six-year sentence in 1994 for good behaviour and moved to Scotland some time later. He worked as a computer consultant while studying for a PhD at Paisley University and undertook some tutoring work.

Several men told police that they suffered terrifying ordeals during encounters with Beggs during the late 90s, but he managed to avoid another conviction.

The offence

On a Christmas night out in 1999, Beggs murdered Barry Wallace, an 18-year-old who worked in a supermarket.

Beggs picked up Barry Wallace in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, took him back to his flat in Kilmarnock, and sexually assaulted him. Beggs then murdered Barry Wallace and dismembered his body. Parts of Barry Wallace’s body were left in Loch Lomond. Beggs also threw Barry Wallace’s head into the sea off Troon.

Investigation

On 6 December 1999, police divers on a training course found human limbs in Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow. A full scale search recovered more body parts in the days ahead.

On 15 December 1999, a human head was found on Barassie Beach, near Troon, by a woman walking her dog.

On 9 January 2000, police divers recovered more body parts, belonging to Barry Wallace, from Loch Lomond.

Arrest and extradition

On 21 December 1999, police were granted a warrant for the arrest of William Beggs.

On 23 December 1999, in a rare legal move, the Crown Office allowed Strathclyde Police to issue a picture of William Beggs.

On 28 December 1999, William Beggs was arrested in the Netherlands after he walked into an Amsterdam Police station with a lawyer.

On 30 December 1999, a Dutch lawyer representing William Beggs said his client would fight extradition proceedings from the Netherlands to Scotland.

On 14 January 2000, the Crown Office confirmed that it had made a formal request to the Dutch authorities for the extradition of William Beggs.

On 28 March 2000, Beggs’ extradition hearing opened in Amsterdam District Court of Justice.

On 11 April 2000, the Dutch court granted the extradition of William Beggs to Scotland.

On 25 April 2000, Dutch lawyers acting for William Beggs lodged an appeal, to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, against his extradition.

On 26 September 2000, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Beggs should be extradited but the decision was referred to the country’s justice minister.

On 15 November 2000, Dutch Justice Minister Benk Korthals upheld the decision to extradite Beggs to Scotland.

On 22 November 2000, Beggs’ legal team launched a last ditch challenge to the extradition order in the Dutch Civil Courts. They argued that media coverage in Scotland had jeopardised his chance of a fair trial.

On 5 January 2001, the Dutch Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that Beggs must be extradited to Scotland to face trial for the murder of Barry Wallace.

On 9 January 2001, Beggs was extradited to Scotland and arrived at Edinburgh Airport under police escort.

On 11 January 2001, Beggs appeared in private at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. He made no plea or declaration.

Trial

Timeline

• 5 December 1999 — Barry Wallace failed to return home after a works night out in Kilmarnock
• 6 December 1999 — Police divers on a training course found human limbs in Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow
• 15 December 1999 — A human head was found on Barassie Beach, near Troon, by a woman walking her dog
• 21 December 1999 — Police were granted a warrant for the arrest of William Beggs
• 23 December 1999 — The Crown Office allowed Strathclyde Police to issue a picture of William Beggs
• 28 December 1999 — William Beggs was arrested in the Netherlands after he walked into an Amsterdam Police station with a lawyer
• 30 December 1999 — A Dutch lawyer representing William Beggs said his client would fight extradition proceedings from the Netherlands to Scotland
• 9 January 2000 — Police divers recovered more body parts, belonging to Barry Wallace, from Loch Lomond
• 14 January 2000 — The Crown Office confirmed it had made a formal request to the Dutch authorities for the extradition of William Beggs
• 29 February 2000 — Barry Wallace was laid to rest at Grasards Cemetery in Kilmarnock, 87 days after he was last seen alive
• 28 March 2000 — William Beggs’ extradition hearing opened in Amsterdam District Court of Justice
• 11 April 2000 — The Dutch court granted the extradition of William Beggs to Scotland
• 25 April 2000 — Dutch lawyers acting for William Beggs lodged an appeal, to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, against his extradition
• 26 September 2000 — The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Beggs should be extradited but the decision was referred to the country’s justice minister
• 15 November 2000 — Dutch Justice Minister Benk Korthals upheld the decision to extradite Beggs to Scotland
• 22 November 2000 — Beggs’ legal team launched a last ditch challenge to the extradition order in the Dutch Civil Courts
• 5 January 2001 — The Dutch Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that Beggs must be extradited to Scotland to face trial for the murder of Barry Wallace
• 9 January 2001 — Beggs was extradited to Scotland and arrived at Edinburgh Airport under police escort
• 11 January 2001 — Beggs appeared in private at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and made no plea or declaration
• 18 September 2001 — Beggs went on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh for the murder of Barry Wallace
• 12 October 2001 — Beggs was convicted of handcuffing, injuring, sexually assaulting and murdering Barry Wallace before dismembering his body

Beggs was sentenced to life imprisonment at the High Court in Edinburgh for the murder of Kilmarnock teenager Barry Wallace in December 1999. The trial at the High Court in Edinburgh took place from 18 September 2001, and the verdict was delivered on 12 October 2001.

A High Court jury delivered a majority verdict. It was revealed after the jury’s majority verdict that Beggs had previously been cleared of a similar murder by appeal court judges on a technicality.

At the 1987 trial, Beggs insisted the killing of Barry Oldham was self-defence.

The Crown applied to try Beggs on a number of wounding charges involving other men alongside the murder charge. The judge at his trial, at Teesside Crown Court in December 1987, allowed the application, but the Court of Appeal said he was wrong to have done so. At the appeal hearing in June 1989, the judges said: "The prejudicial effect of these facts (on the charge of murder) must have been enormous."

The Edinburgh court also learned that at the same trial, Beggs was convicted of two charges of wounding and sentenced to four months for each. It was also learned that at the same trial Beggs was once cleared of a similar murder by appeal court judges on a technicality.

Sentencing

Trial judge Lord Osborne said:

"Having regard to the circumstances of the case, in particular the seriousness of the appalling offences involved and having regard to your previous convictions, the part of your sentence which must be specified is 20 years."

Appeals

Beggs’ catalogue of violent crime led to him being denied release while an appeal was being heard. Lord Eassie refused to release Beggs on bail during that period. His lawyers cited nine grounds for appeal, including news coverage that their attorney said tainted the trial.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay QC said Beggs’ conviction for wounding Mr McQuillan in 1991 was currently being considered by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Outcome

Beggs was convicted on Friday of murdering Barry Wallace after sexually assaulting him at his flat. After the verdict it was revealed Beggs had been cleared of murder by the appeal court on a technicality.

Beggs dismembered Barry Wallace’s body, leaving parts in Loch Lomond and throwing his head into the sea off Troon.

Beggs was placed on the sex offenders’ register after the jury ruled that he sexually assaulted Mr Wallace after handcuffing him by the arms and legs.

Aftermath

Witness testimony and quotes

Retired detective chief superintendent Tony Fitzgerald, former head of North Yorkshire CID, said:

"When we caught Beggs all those years ago, we seriously thought we had caught a serial killer in the making.
"We thought we were lucky because we had managed to catch him after his first killing."

Mr Fitzgerald also said:

"He was shocked when the conviction was overturned.
When his conviction was overturned on appeal, I remember I was quite aghast at what had happened in the light of what we knew about this man."

Defense counsel Donald Findlay QC said:

"It should not be thought that Mr Beggs is unmoved or unaffected by the events that occurred in December 1999, but to convey that, either to the court or indeed to anyone else, places one in the danger of saying something that may seem to be trite."

Beggs showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.

Friends and colleagues of Mr Wallace sobbed and hugged each other outside the courtroom during the verdict and throughout the sentencing. Mr Wallace’s parents Ian (51), Christine (50), and brother Colin (23) remained composed during the verdict and throughout the sentencing.

Prior incident involving Brian McQuillan

A man named Brian McQuillan told how he had thought he was leaping to his death as he jumped naked from the window of limbs-in-the-loch murderer William Beggs’ flat.

The attack on Brian McQuillan took place a decade earlier at Beggs’ home in Kilmarnock, the same flat where Barry Wallace was murdered in 1999. McQuillan was left with a number of slash wounds.

McQuillan told BBC Scotland’s Frontline programme that he did not think he would get out alive. McQuillan said:

"The pain that I felt was something that I had never experienced before."

McQuillan said:

"He (Beggs) was completely calm. He was a completely different person from when I met him earlier," he said. "His eyes were vacant. There was nothing there.
"All he kept saying was, 'Come back to bed. Everything will be okay. Things will be over soon. You have made me do this'."

McQuillan said:

"At that point I knew there was no way that I was getting out of there alive."

McQuillan said he jumped through the window and thought he was jumping to his death:

"I never expected that I would survive it," he added. "It was not a concern to me, it was almost an acceptance, this is the end but at least if I go this way then people will know and this man will be caught."

Prior incident and statements about Barry Oldham

After Mr Oldham’s death, a woman told the BBC that Beggs threatened to kill her.

Former friend Carole Smith said:

"I just looked at him and said 'Did you?' It was probably the stupidest thing I've ever said.
"He said 'Yes, and you're next'," she recalled.

At the 1987 trial, the original trial judge Sir Christopher Staughton told Frontline that he felt the Court of Appeal was wrong to overturn his conviction. He said:

"I would say that the way I directed the jury was right.
"The Court of Appeal thought it was wrong and of course what they say goes, but I think if one looks at the law as it now is since the House of Lords decision, it is possible that I was right after all.
"Killing is always deplorable and if people are let out and turn out afterwards to have killed again then it is doubly deplorable,"

Advocate depute Alan Turnbull QC remarks

Prior to sentencing, advocate depute Alan Turnbull QC described the slashing incident at Beggs’ flat, the same flat Barry Wallace was murdered in. Turnbull said:

"He (Beggs) assaulted a young man, repeatedly cut him on the leg with a knife, caused him fear and alarm such as to cause him to jump through a glass window of the first floor at the house."

Turnbull also said that Beggs went through an extradition process after he fled to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. He eventually appeared in a Scottish court on 10 January 2001.