The sister of retired horsewoman Wendy Buckney who was brutally murdered by her neighbour has paid a heartfelt tribute to her sibling. Wendy Buckney was stabbed and beaten to death in her flat in Clydach in the Swansea Valley in August, 2022, by Brian Whitelock, a neighbour who she trusted.
At the time of the killing, Whitelock was out of prison on licence following a previous conviction for murder. Swansea Crown Court heard that, though Miss Buckney knew Whitelock had been in jail, she did not know what for and she had tried to help him by finding odd jobs for him to do around her home, saying: “Everyone deserves a second chance”. You can read about Whitelock’s previous murder in 2000 – which saw him beating a man to death before dousing him in petrol and setting fire to his body – here.
Whitelock repaid that kindness by stripping her naked and repeatedly stabbing her with a knife and beating her with a table leg and wooden shelving in a “sadistic” attack carried out while under the influence of street Valium and alcohol. Miss Buckney suffered more than 70 injuries to her face, body, and limbs though there were too many wounds for a pathologist to accurately count. The 57-year-old denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibly but was convicted at trial and was handed a whole life sentence by Mr Justice Griffiths, meaning he will never be allowed out of prison.
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Brian Whitelock -Credit:South Wales Police
In a statement read to the court by junior prosecution barrister Dean Pulling, Miss Buckney’s sister Ann paid tribute to her sibling. Walesonline has decided to publish the tribute in full:
“Wendy was such a kind, fun, loving person. She was bubbly and caring. She adored her family the same as we all adored her. Wendy had close bonds with her nieces and nephews. Wendy absolutely loved her animals and always had from being a child. She loved her time living and working on the farm, this was when she was at her happiest.
“My sister Rosemary’s daughter Nicola spent her childhood up on the farm with Wendy helping with the animals, learning horse riding, and being encouraged by Wendy to take part in horse shows. As sisters, myself, Rosemary and Wendy did not live in each other’s pockets but we were always there for each other and would do anything for each other. We had wonderful parents and such a lovely life growing up together.
“As we became older, we all suffered with our own illnesses. Rosemary has been ill over the years suffering with breast cancer but knowing that through the toughest times we could rely on each other as sisters and pull together for each other, if one of us was struggling the other one could pull it all together and keep us strong. The bond between us as sisters could never be broken and all our lives through disagreements and quarrels, we always made sure that at the end of the day we were always there protecting each other.”
Wendy Buckney, who was found dead at a property in Tanycoed Road, Clydach
“Wendy was such a lovely, kind person that she always had groups of friends throughout her life who thought the world of her, and since she has died, listening to her friends and others speak so well about her means so much to us. As a family as we know how special she was but hearing this from others makes it more special, and knowing everything that is being said about Wendy is sincere..
“We have lost our parents and brothers over the years, and this has been hard as we have always been a close family. However, Wendy’s death is unimaginable as it was so horrific as she was taken from us in such a horrible way by the hands of the man that she tried to help and be a friend too.
“I will never be able to go to Wendy’s house again. Every week I would go up there to help with her cleaning. I had my own key to get in to Wendy’s and I would ring her the day before I was going up to tell her to make sure the door was not locked before I arrived so I could get in, and I would tell her to stay in bed until I had finished the cleaning so she did not get in my way – otherwise she would get under my feet and nothing would be done. Wendy was more than happy to stay in bed to be fair.
“Both Rosemary and I will never be able to ring her again or to have her call us. We would talk about everything and anything even if one of us was telling the other off or even moaning about the other sister. As sisters this is what we did as we could all get on each other’s nerves, I am sure. We have now lived through the firsts of everything without Wendy. The first Christmas for us as a family was so hard it was a blur; we could not celebrate knowing that she was gone. We tried to put on a brave face for the family and the children knowing we were falling apart inside. One of the hardest parts was going shopping, seeing all the presents in the shops and not being able to buy Wendy her Christmas present or to sit around a table enjoying Christmas with her.
“We have had Wendy’s birthday – the first without her and a year after she was brutally murdered. We could not buy Wendy cards or presents or arrange to go out together. What do we have left? I will tell you, as all we have are her ashes that are sitting in the living room as we can’t leave go of her yet not until we have justice for her. There will come a time when we take them to the cemetery, however this is all we have to look forward to – laying her to rest and hoping she will have peace. There is nothing more.
“Our nieces and nephews will never be able to see her again, never be able to have conversations with her again asking her for advice or just being the amazing aunty she was. Wendy will never see her nieces, nephews and their families growing up and watching as their lives change and they grow into adulthood.
“Wendy will never be part of any family celebrations such as the children’s birthdays, school concerts, any family weddings, new babies, proms – there will always be an empty chair where she should be. Anything she should be part of she cannot be anymore, that has been taken away from her and us. The everyday normal things that people do with their families and siblings we cannot have that anymore. We just miss her and love her so much. Wendy was such a kind person, the horrific way in which she has died has traumatised us as a family. Wendy is the first person we think about in the morning and the last person we think of at night.
“Our minds are constantly full of the question that is constantly in our minds is WHY? Why would Brian Whitelock do this to the person who gave him little jobs just so he had cash in his pocket so he could put food on his table and feed his dog or as Wendy did on occasions buy him shopping. Brian Whitelock has robbed us of our sister, aunty, friend, the conversations that will be no more. There will always be an empty void, the empty chair. Brian Whitelock may only be a small man however Wendy was an elderly lady she would never have been able to fight him off..
“We can never move on from this. However, we want justice for our sister and aunty – this is what she deserves and nothing less. We want closure from the legal process and the difficulties that this has been. No sentence that Brian Whitelock receives will ever be enough for us as a family, however, we want him to know what he has done to us as a family; the nightmares we have because of his actions and the life sentence he has given us we can never ever escape this. More importantly for him to know that he has taken the life of his friend, the person who never did him any wrong. Wendy’s only fault was to care too much and believing everyone deserved a second chance. She believed she could help you Brian Whitelock and this is how you repaid her kindness and her friendship by taking her life”.
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