Double-killer will die in jail serving entire life tariff after murdering sort pensioner who took him in when he was launched on licence
A convicted double-killer who brutally murdered a kindly pensioner after being released on licence from his original sentence is set to die in jail.
High on drink and drugs, Brian Whitelock inflicted such a horrific assault on his latest victim Wendy Buckney, 71, that a pathologist found her injuries were too many to count.
Today, the 57-year-old received a rare whole-life order from a judge at Swansea Crown Court after jurors convicted him of Ms Buckney’s murder following a trial last month.
Whitelock murdered and sexually assaulted Ms Buckney in August 2002.
The retired riding school owner, who believed in ‘second chances’, had offered him odd jobs and food after he moved to her village following his release on life licence from his original jail term – against the advice of her family.
Whitelock was previously handed a life sentence with a minimum jail term of 18 years for murdering Nicky Morgan, 27, who he battered to death with a hammer in 2000.
He was also convicted of the manslaughter of his own brother Glen, 35, who died in a house fire started by Whitelock to cover his tracks after killing Mr Morgan following a row.
Sentencing today, Mr Justice Griffiths told Whitelock: ‘Every murder is a tragedy but the murder of Wendy Buckley was particularly senseless.
‘She was over 70, a pensioner with mobility issues who knew you had been in prison but she told people that: ‘everyone deserves a second chance’.’
Brian Whitelock, 57, was told today he will die in jail and family members of three of his victims applauded the decision
Wendy Buckney, 71, was ‘brutally’ killed in a horrific attack using a knife, table leg, and wooden shelf
He told Whitelock: ‘You brutally murdered her anyway, you killed her for your own pleasure while high on a combination of street valium and drink.
‘You were hell bent on consuming drugs and alcohol knowing full well the effect that had on you.
‘You inflicted a frenzy of violence on her which caused her to die a brutal, terrifying death. There were too many injuries to count.
‘The seriousness of the offence is exceptionally vile.’
The judge said the aggravating features were ‘sustained, exceptionally cruel and sadistic violence, the use of a knife, sexual assault, degradation of her body, voluntary intoxication and the fact that Mrs Buckney was a vulnerable pensioner.’
Whitelock pulled out the power line to the video link disconnecting himself from the proceedings just seconds before the judge gave his sentence. The judge directed he be informed of the decision by prison staff.
He said: ‘I sentence you to imprisonment for life. This is the case of the most extreme gravity, the seriousness of this murder requires you to be kept in prison for the rest of your life. You will never be considered for parole.’
Jurors in Whitelock’s trial last month heard he moved in opposite Ms Buckney in the village of Clydach, near Swansea, and she wanted to help him get his life back on track.
She would employ him to do odd jobs in her home, insisting to her sceptical sister Ann that ‘everyone deserves a second chance’.
But in August 2022, Ms Buckney was murdered by Whitelock in a horrific attack – with her attacker inflicting a catalogue of injuries using a knife, table leg and wooden shelf as well as sexually assaulting her.
Whitelock was seen the following morning by neighbours leaving Ms Buckney’s home in the village of Clydach, six miles from Swansea city centre, wearing only inside-out boxer shorts and covered in blood. He told horrified locals: ‘I’ve killed Wendy. I don’t know why, she was good to me.’
A post-mortem examination found that ‘vulnerable’ Ms Buckney, who suffered from mobility issues, had ‘too many’ stab wounds and blunt force injuries for pathologists to count after the horror attack. Prosecutor Christopher Rees KC told Swansea Crown Court Ms Buckney ‘must have suffered greatly’.
Footage of the arrest shows Whitelock tell police ‘wait till you turn her over’ and ‘I’m so sorry like, for her like, for Wendy’ as he is put in handcuffs and escorted into a police vehicle
Brian Whitelock, 57, was found guilty after a jury took just 27 minutes to decide he murdered retired generous riding school owner Wendy Buckney, 71
Wendy Buckney pictured before the attack. She was killed with a kitchen knife, broken table leg and and wooden shelving during a sustained assault in her own home
Whitelock was seen leaving Ms Buckney’s home wearing only inside-out boxer shorts and covered in blood
Police officers are given flowers to leave at the scene amid investigations into the tragic incident in Wales
Police sealed off the area on August 23, 2022, while forensic officers examined the crime scene in the search for evidence
The prosecutor called Whitelock ‘a man with a long-standing drug problem and significantly with a history of violence and of trying to divert blame and responsibility for his actions’.
In the days following his arrest, Whitelock changed his story to say he had found Ms Buckney injured and had gone to help her and had seen ‘shadowy figures’ outside her flat – adding: ‘I’m not doing another life sentence.’
Mr Rees said Ms Buckney had no children but was well-loved by her 16 nieces and nephews and two adult step-children, having taught hundreds of children how to ride.
She had given Whitelock work despite being warned against it by her family.
Whitelock conducted his own defence, in which he bizarrely claimed he had suffered two significant head injuries which had affected his behaviour – even though the prosecution said there was no evidence he had suffered such injuries.
When jurors returned a guilty verdict after just 27 minutes’ deliberations, he ranted: ‘I hope you all suffer a brain injury, I hope you all suffer a brain injury. I hope you all suffer what I went through. You are all bang out of order.’
Locals left flowers at the scene where Wendy Buckney-Morgan, 71, was found dead on August 23, 2022.
A postmortem examination found ‘vulnerable’ Ms Buckney had ‘too many’ injuries for pathologists to count and flesh from her body was found on the walls and ceiling after the horror attack
Whitelock was also found guilty of the manslaughter of his own brother Glenn (pictured) in a fire as he tried to destroy the evidence of the killing
Whitelock was convicted of murdering friend Nicky Morgan (pictured), 27, after battering him to death with a hammer
Speaking after the verdict, Ms Buckney’s sister Ann, accompanied by other family members, said: ‘We are grateful that the truth has been heard. Wendy was a very much loved, sister and aunty whose kindness, laughter, and spirit touched the lives of so many. Our lives will never be the same without her’.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Davies, of South Wales Police, said ‘defenceless’ Ms Buckney was the victim of a ‘senseless murder’.
Meanwhile, relatives of his first victim, Nicky Morgan, who Whitelock battered to death with a hammer, told how they warned probation officials he was likely to kill again – three years before Ms Buckney’s murder.
Mel Huxley said she had objected to Whitelock being freed in 2019 after he broke terms when placed in an open prison the previous year, which included drinking and being in an ‘altercation’ with a shop security guard.
When his release was again considered in 2019, she said: ‘My last words to the parole board were that I will categorically, 100 per cent, guarantee that he’ll murder again, and that we will back here. And we were.’
A later review found ‘the likelihood of him committing further harm was assessed as low’ unless he relapsed into alcohol and drug misuse and he was released in November 2019.
Asked for her reaction to hearing Whitelock had killed for a third time, Mrs Huxley added: ‘I thought ‘I told you so’.
