Three days of entries had been torn from the diary of a woman who allegedly took her own life after years of abuse at the hands of her husband, Winchester Crown Court was told on Thursday.
Tarryn Baird hanged herself at her home in Swindon, Wiltshire, on 28 November 2017, aged 34. Her husband, Christopher Trybus, 43, stands accused of manslaughter, controlling and coercive behaviour, and two counts of rape. Prosecutors allege he subjected Ms Baird to extensive manipulation and sexual violence over the course of their relationship, which they say ultimately drove her to her death. He denies the charges.
The green diary — a branded notebook titled ‘Conception’ on its cover — was recovered by police in January 2023, several years after Ms Baird’s death. Prosecutor Rebecca Fairbairn told jurors that, if the dates recorded within it were accurate, the pages covering the three days immediately before she died appeared to have been physically removed. Had the author “continued writing” about her daily life in the usual manner, Ms Fairbairn said, those final entries would have been present.
The court also received evidence from Alice Wagacebu, a cleaner who worked for the couple between 2016 and the time of Ms Baird’s death. Her statement, read to the jury by the prosecution, described Ms Baird as warm, approachable and focused on the future — someone who regularly spoke about her hope of having children. Of Trybus, Ms Wagacebu recalled that he was “often away”, and that when he was home he would “open the front door, say hello and then go back to his office.”
On one occasion, Ms Wagacebu noticed a bruise on Ms Baird’s face. When she asked whether it had happened at the gym, Ms Baird simply smiled and said no, offering no further explanation.
Earlier in Thursday’s proceedings, the court heard from Carina Silva, a childhood friend of Ms Baird, who said she had repeatedly offered her home as a place of safety after Ms Baird disclosed she was being beaten and raped. Ms Baird consistently declined. Ms Silva told the court she feared for her friend’s life, describing Trybus as “strange and bizarre”, and recalled being told that he had strangled Ms Baird with a belt during a sexual assault.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Katy Thorne, Ms Silva acknowledged that in a 2021 police statement she had described Trybus as appearing devoted to his wife in public — but maintained that what Ms Baird told her in private was an entirely different matter. “On the outside he seemed nice to her,” she said, “but what she was telling me was completely different.”
Ms Silva also explained why she had not initially disclosed to police all that Ms Baird had confided in her. “I was very uncertain,” she said. “Tarryn would tell me things, I would see the bruises, and then she would retract. I didn’t want to put something in where I didn’t know the facts.”
The trial continues.
