Man 'raped and strangled wife', jury told

A childhood friend of a woman who took her own life after allegedly being abused by her husband told a jury the victim confided in her she had been raped by him.

Christopher Trybus, 43, is accused of the manslaughter of his wife Tarryn Baird, 34, who was found dead at her home in Swindon in November 2017.

Trybus also faces charges at Winchester Crown Court of controlling and coercive behaviour and two charges of rape.

Carina Silva, who grew up with Baird in South Africa, told the court the abuse "was getting worse, she wasn't my friend any more, she was a hollow shell".

The coercive control charge alleges that Trybus controlled his wife through using and threatening violence towards her, sexually assaulting her, monitoring her whereabouts, limiting access to finance, threatening to reveal private information to her family and isolating her from them.

Silva, who later moved to the UK, said her friend had alleged that Trybus had hit her 25 times.

"She told me quite frequently he was abusing her, hitting her," she said. "She would sometimes retract, so I didn't know how to deal with it."

Recalling what she said Baird had told her, Silva said: "Christopher came home and was angry, they had an argument, took her to the spare bedroom and raped her, he strangled her.

"She [Baird] told me the pain she was in afterwards, she said how sore her body was and she couldn't move her neck because she was strangled. She was hysterical."

Silva said she had told Baird to report what was happening to a health professional and to keep a diary of incidents so it would be "documented".

Trybus, a software consultant and developer, denies the charges. The trial continues.

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