Husband beat wife for turning off CCTV, jury told

A man accused of driving his wife to suicide allegedly "gave her a total beating" when she switched off recording devices at their home, a court has heard.

Christopher Trybus, 43, from Swindon in Wiltshire, is charged with the manslaughter of his wife, Tarryn Baird, who took her own life in November 2017, aged 34.

An employee of Swindon Women's Aid (SWA) told the jury that Baird confided in her in September that the violence had "escalated", and "she can't believe she is still alive".

Trybus also faces charges at Winchester Crown Court of coercive or controlling behaviour and two counts of rape. He denies all charges.

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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 her family.

The SWA employee, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury that she had regular contact with Baird, who reported multiple incidents of violence and controlling behaviour by Trybus.

She said that on 28 June 2017, she noted in her files that Baird had told her Trybus had come home after she had switched off the CCTV and then assaulted her.

The court heard the notes said Baird had revealed that when she had "switched off tracking devices, Chris came home and gave her a total beating".

She added that Baird had previously told her that she believed Trybus "used bugging devices in the house, because she felt he was always one step ahead of her".

The SWA employee said that on 11 July, she had received a text message from Baird saying "hel", which she said Baird confirmed in a call the following day had meant to say "help".

She said that Baird had told her that "Chris had attacked her again and that is why she sought support".

The employee added that Baird had also told her she was admitted to hospital that same month after taking an overdose.

The SWA employee told the court that Baird said she was unable to leave Trybus because she wanted to "protect her family" from him, and feared the lengths he was willing to go to prevent her from leaving.

Though she allegedly admitted her family did "not know about the domestic violence, they think she is a lunatic".

Trybus denies the offences, and the trial continues.

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