A review is being carried out into the case of triple killer Brian Whitelock who was on licence in the community when he murdered his neighbour, Wendy Buckney. Whitelock was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 18 years behind bars in 2001 for murder and manslaughter and had been out of prison on licence for some 10 months when he carried out the sadistic murder of 71-year-old Miss Buckney at her Clydach home in 2022.
The killing – which a judge said had a “sexual element” – saw Whitelock stripping his victim naked and repeatedly stabbing her with a knife and beating her with a table leg and wooden shelving. When the defendant was found outside Miss Buckney’s flat the following morning he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and he confessed to neighbours he had killed and tortured his victim. He subsequently denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was convicted at trial at Swansea Crown Court.
Brian Whitelock caught on CCTV leaving his flat and crossing the road to Wendy Buckney’s home shortly before murdering her. He claims not to remember what he was carrying in his hand -Credit:South Wales Police
Now, what is known as a “serious further offence” or SFO review has been launched by the probation service. An SFO review is triggered when a person is charged with or commits a qualifying offence while under probation supervision or within 28 days of the supervision period ending. Whitelock was released on licence from his 2001 sentence on January 2, 2019, but was recalled on December 5, 2020, after assaulting a shop worker. He was released on licence again on October 21, 2021, some 10 months before he murdered Miss Buckney.
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The Ministry of Justice confirmed a review was underway. A spokeswoman said: “This was an appalling crime and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Wendy Buckney. A Serious Further Offence review is currently under way and we will share the findings of the review with Ms Buckney’s family.”
In October, 2000, Whitelock was at his older brother Glen’s house in the Blaenymaes area of Swansea with an acquaintance by the name of Nicky Morgan. All three men were drinking heavily. In the early hours of the morning of October 13 Brian Whitelock beat Mr Morgan to death with a hammer.
The 27-year-old victim’s face and skull were “smashed in” during the assault. To cover up the murder, Whitelock then put on a blonde wig and walked to a nearby petrol station where he bought a can of petrol. Returning to his brother’s house he poured petrol over his victim then set him and the property alight before fleeing over the garden fence – apparently taking with him £1,000 in cash which his brother had made from selling bootleg tobacco. Whitelock’s brother was asleep or comatose in the house and died from smoke inhalation as the fire his sibling started took hold. He subsequently denied murder and blamed his dead brother for killing Mr Morgan but was convicted at trial.
At Whitelock’s trial for the 2022 murder of Miss Buckney, prosecution barrister Christopher Rees KC said there were similarities between the two murders, namely “explosive and disproportionate violence”; the use of weapons; intoxication by drug or drugs; and the defendant seeking to blame others.
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