Man accused of driving wife to suicide claims she lied about abuse, jury told

A husband who is accused of driving his wife to suicide says she lied about being abused by him, a court has heard.

Tarryn Baird was making "demonstrably false allegations to health professionals" about Christopher Trybus before her death in November 2017, his defence barrister said.

Trybus, from Swindon in Wiltshire, faces charges of manslaughter, controlling and coercive behaviour and two charges of rape. He denies all charges.

Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the jury the defendant carried out a "tsunami" of abuse against Baird.

But Katy Thorne KC, defending, later told the jury Trybus was "never abusive to his wife".

"This without question is a tragic case, a young woman has died and she took her own life and nothing you decide in this courtroom can alter the grief and loss of those who loved her," she said.

"The defence position is he didn't beat her, he didn't break her, he didn't coerce her, control her and he didn't cause her death.

"On the contrary, he loved her and cherished her deeply and his case is that without anyone's knowledge, Tarryn Baird was making demonstrably false allegations to health professionals," she continued.

Thorne told the jury Trybus's actions did not cause Baird's death.

"The defence case is that on a number of occasions Tarryn Baird made allegations of violence which were demonstrably false, for example, by reporting injuries to health professionals when Christopher Trybus was not even in the country.

"Health professionals were being told a false story and her boredom and troubled mind was leading her to make allegations to seek care and attention," she said.

The jury also heard from Dr Tessa Jones who confirmed that she had seen Baird on multiple occasions and had more than 100 entries in her treatment notes.

Baird had initially sought treatment in September 2015 for fainting episodes and cardiac concerns before she started to report suffering various injuries, the court heard.

These included Baird stating that Trybus had sex with her "against her will" in October 2016, which is the basis of the first of the two rape counts.

The court heard that Jones wrote in her notes that Baird had told her "he put his hands around her throat, he started to strangle her".

Baird then managed to hit Trybus with a free hand but he proceeded to "have sex against her will" and "during the altercation he also hit her around the head several times with an object, Tarryn thinks it's her phone".

The court heard the GP continued to state that Baird "doesn't think she will ever be able to escape the situation, has suicidal thoughts".