Rhys Bennet pleads guilty to the murder of Jill Barclay, DS Andrew Patrick statement to the media outside The High Court, Edinburgh<br /><br />hys Bennet pleads guilty to the murder of Jill Barclay<br /><br />A man has been jailed for at least 24 years for the rape and murder of a woman as she walked home in Aberdeen.<br /><br />Mother-of-two Jill Barclay, 47, was attacked and set on fire. Her body was found in the street in the Dyce area of the city in September last year.<br /><br />Rhys Bennett, 23, admitted the crimes, which a judge described as "wicked and medieval in their barbarity".<br /><br />Ms Barclay's family said she had been "a deeply loved life partner, mother and daughter".<br /><br />She was walking home from a night when Bennett followed and attacked her.<br /><br />The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Bennet, from Ballingry, Fife, had been diagnosed with a mental disorder, and had apologised for what he had done.<br /><br />Judge Lord Arthurson said the attack had involved "extreme, sustained and feral violence".<br /><br />He said Bennet had burned his victim alive and described his crimes as "unimaginably wicked and mediaeval in their barbarity".<br />Bennett was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.<br /><br />Ms Barclay, who worked for energy services firm Petrofac, was found dead in a street close to the Marriot Hotel, at about 03:30 on 17 September.
