Man accused of driving wife to suicide says her death was ‘worst day of my life’

A man accused of driving his wife to suicide after subjecting her to a ‘tsunami’ of abuse has told a jury that finding out about her death was ‘the worst day of my life’.

Christopher Trybus, 44, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court charged with the manslaughter of Tarryn Baird, who was aged just 34 when she ended her own life in November 2017.

Prosecutors say he Trybus is legally responsible for her death even though he was away when she was found hanged in the garage of their Swindon home.

He is also accused of controlling and coercive behaviour and two charges of rape.

Trybus, 44, told the court that he was in Germany when he received a call informing him of his wife’s death.

He said that as he was driving back to the airport to return home, he ‘broke down’ in tears.

The software consultant said: ‘Halfway down the drive, I broke down and cried. I got to the airport, dumped the car, asked them to put me at the front of the plane because I wanted to get out as soon as possible.

‘It’s not something anyone can prepare themselves for, it’s a cliche but you never think it’s going to happen to you.

‘So, worst day of my life, just absolutely terrible, I don’t know how else to describe it.’

The court has heard that Ms Baird had a history of mental health issues, including a diagnosis of potential PTSD having witnessed ‘traumatic’ car-jacking incidents in South Africa where the couple grew up before moving to the UK in 2007.

Trybus told the court that he believed Ms Baird’s mental health had improved in the weeks before her death after she had taken up a volunteer role for court witness support.

He said that he thought she was ‘mostly back to her normal self, she seemed to bounce back and be on the mend. I felt like things were starting to improve’.

When asked how he felt about being abroad for work regularly in the months before her death, Trybus said: ‘I wish I could have done more.

‘Possibly I could have stayed home, I could have taken some time off of work but when you are in it, you do not see it, you just think it will never happen.’

Trybus is accused of subjecting Ms Baird to a ‘tsunami of abuse’ that left her with no escape but to kill herself.

He allegedly strangled her with a belt and rope, battered her with a metal pole and kicked and punched her in the face and abdomen.

The coercive control charge alleges that he controlled Ms Baird 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.

When his barrister Katy Thorne KC asked him if he was a ‘violent and domineering man’, he replied: ‘No, I do not think so.’

And when asked if he was responsible for Ms Baird’s death, he replied: ‘No, not at all.’

He also denied raping, sexually assaulting, being violent towards her and controlling her.

When asked by prosecutor Tom Little KC if he was angry at being labelled a ‘wife-beater’ by his late wife who accused him of assaulting or sexually assaulting her on 25 occasions, Trybus replied: ‘It’s difficult to be angry with someone who is dead.’

He added: ‘It’s difficult to know what was going on in her troubled mind. It’s someone I love very dearly, I try to understand it, not get angry about it.

‘Me being angry with her isn’t going to change it, I try to hold on to good memories we have.’

He said he would have got ‘upset, not necessarily angry’ with Ms Baird during arguments but had not shouted at her or lost his temper.

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

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