8 hours ago
6
Beth CruseWest of England
PA Media
Christopher Trybus is charged with manslaughter, coercive or controlling behaviour and two counts of rape
A man accused of driving his wife to suicide developed software to track her, a police safeguarding officer has told a jury.
Christopher Trybus, 43, of Swindon in Wiltshire, denies the manslaughter of his wife Tarryn Baird, who took her own life in November 2017, aged 34. He is on trial at Winchester Crown Court.
Lisa Attree, a Wiltshire Police safeguarding officer, told the court that Baird had confided in her that Trybus appeared at a hotel where she was staying, even though she had changed her phone, withdrawn cash and avoided driving in an effort not to be found.
Trybus, a software consultant, also denies a charge of coercive or controlling behaviour and two counts of rape.
The coercive control charge alleges that Trybus controlled his wife through using and threatening violence towards her, sexually abusing her, monitoring her whereabouts, limiting her access to money, threatening to reveal private information to her family, and isolating her from her family.
- If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.
A jury heard Attree had supported Baird after a crime report was generated by Great Western Hospital in Swindon in January 2017.
She told the court that Baird wanted to leave the relationship but was "fearful of repercussions that would follow".
"She was concerned that she came across as a mess and believed her husband had done a lot of damage to people's opinions of her," Attree told the court.
Family handout
Tarryn Baird, pictured, told safeguarding officer Lisa Attree she was "anxious" about police turning up to her house
Attree, whose job was to offer support to victims of domestic violence, said Baird was "too scared" to report the alleged abuse and was "anxious" about police turning up at her house.
Attree told the court that Baird said she would go to a refuge but feared Trybus would find her, even if she was outside of Swindon.
On one occasion, Attree said Baird showed her a screenshot of a message which Trybus had sent her, which showed how long Baird took to get to her location, her location at the time and the length of her return journey.
Reading her notes from the time, Attree told Rebecca Fairbairn, prosecuting, that Baird described Trybus as "very intellectual".
"Trybus has developed some kind of software which is what his line of work is," she added.
Recalling a conversation when Baird had tried to leave Trybus, Attree said: "She told us she had gone to a hotel, she bought herself a new phone but he still showed up at that hotel.
"She'd not taken one of their vehicles and she had paid cash.
"[She had] no idea how he followed her despite turning off location and GPS tracker on her phone."
Trybus denies any wrongdoing and the trial continues.
