Man Allegedly Controlled Wife Leading to Her Death, Jury Hears

Christopher Trybus is accused of controlling his wife through violence and coercion, leading to her suicide in 2017. He denies charges including manslaughter, coercive behaviour, and rape.

Allegations of Control and Abuse

A man allegedly exercised control over his wife through "physical and sexual violence," which a court has heard contributed to her taking her own life as she felt unable to escape the situation.

Christopher Trybus, aged 43, from Swindon in Wiltshire, stands accused of the manslaughter of his wife, Tarryn Baird, who died by suicide in November 2017 at the age of 34.

He also faces charges at Winchester Crown Court including controlling and coercive behaviour and two counts of rape, all of which he denies.

Prosecution's Case

Tom Little KC, prosecuting, informed the jury that Trybus engaged in "extensive and escalating controlling, coercive and manipulative behaviour including sexual violence of two rapes and other sexual assaults."

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It is alleged that Trybus controlled Baird by using and threatening violence against her, sexually assaulting her, monitoring her movements, restricting her access to finances, threatening to disclose private information to her family, and isolating her from her relatives.

"It took place over a sustained period of time behind closed doors and all of it during the course of a marriage,"

"It led ultimately in November 2017 to a woman in just her thirties and whose name is Tarryn Baird taking her own life.

"She was the defendant's wife and the prosecution say that the defendant is legally responsible for her death."

Little further explained that Trybus controlled "many aspects of their relationship" even when abroad, using the "threat and fear of physical and sexual violence," which contributed to a decline in Baird's "already weakened mental state and a cause of her deciding that she should take her own life."

He added,

"She had not managed to escape from him, despite seriously considering doing so on a number of occasions."

Victim's Background and Evidence

A jury heard that Baird, who was employed at an opticians, left a note for her family expressing that a "dark cloud" was over her.

Family handout A woman wearing a black t-shirt with a colourful graphic is wearing sunglasses and smiling while standing on rocks at a beach. — Tarryn Baird worked in Swindon at an opticians

Trybus, a software consultant and developer, denies all charges. He stated that Baird had been diagnosed with a possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following her experience of witnessing and suffering armed car-jacking incidents in South Africa.

The prosecutor stated,

"Other things that Tarryn Baird said about the nature of the relationship were that the defendant had told her parents she was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and that this would prevent them believing her if she told them about the domestic abuse."

He described this as "classic domestic abuse perpetrator behaviour."