A community’s efforts to buy and demolish the gatehouse where Aberdeen mum Jill Barclay was murdered have failed and it will now be “refurbished” by its Glasgow-based owners.
A crowdfunder was set up in the summer to raze the derelict Farburn Gatehouse in Dyce after the family of Jill said its existence added to their trauma and distress in the wake of her death.
The 47-year-old mum-of-two’s partner Leon Grant backed the campaign to raise around £90,000 so it could be flattened and turned into a useful and enjoyable space for the community.
But today the crowdfunders announced that the building’s owners – businessmen Hafiza Abid and Shahzad Hassan – “can no longer wait”.
The owners had agreed to sell at cost, plus their commissions and legal fees, at a total price of £87,000.
In an update to donors, who have so far raised more than £35,000, the campaigners wrote: “Unfortunately the owners of the gatehouse feel that they can no longer wait for funds to be raised so the gatehouse can be purchased and demolished. The owners are now looking to start refurbishing the house.
“Avenues for raising funds have been looked into multiple times and Aberdeen City Council approached numerous times.
“A trust fund had been in motion, championed by a group of local councillors, we thank them for their efforts. No large companies that have premises in the area came forward to help and we are now out of time.
“We are devastated.”
Anyone who has donated via the crowdfunding page will received a refund in seven to 10 days.
The campaigners added: “Lastly we want to thank every single person that donated. The money raised has largely come from our local community, and that speaks volumes about the community you are.”
A spokeswoman for the group said today: “We are understandably devastated by the recent change of plans with regards to the gatehouse and are saddened that we have been unable to raise the funds to purchase and demolish this constant reminder in a timely manner.
“We respect the rights of the owner to proceed as he wishes with the gatehouse.”
Family’s traumatising reminder of tragedy
The building was purchased by Mr Abid and Mr Hassan at auction for £76,000 just days before Jill’s brutal murder at the hands of Fife man Rhys Bennett in September 2022.
Bennett, who encountered Jill in a pub on the night of her murder and then stalked her as she walked home, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years for her assault, rape and murder in May.
The gatehouse, which is just 300 yards away from the home where Jill lived with Mr Grant and their two children, was blocked off with fencing and views of the site were obscured by large green canvassing, however that has since been removed.
Mr Grant told The Press and Journal in August that the gatehouse is a daily reminder of the tragedy.
He said: “I just want it flattened. I don’t want a memorial there. Whoever wants to do something good with it can have it.
“I go past it all the time. I’ve got no choice. It’s part of my life.
“It never really used to jar me but once the fence came down it has come to life more, now that I’ve seen the building that was hidden before.
“I thought it would get easier but it’s actually got tougher.”
When the campaign to buy the property was launched in June, a spokeswoman for the group – who were all friends of Jill – said they were doing it for her family,
She said: “Jill was such a good person and got me through quite a difficult time when I had post-natal depression.
“We are doing this for Leon and the kids. We don’t want them to have the added stress and trauma of having to pass this house every day. We know Jill would not have wanted them to go through any extra upset.
“Those kids are going to grow up having to pass it every time they go to the train station or Asda, so we want to erase any bad memories – I just know that is a trauma she would not have wanted for her children.”