Man Acquitted of Manslaughter in Wife's 2017 Death

A jury at Winchester Crown Court acquitted Christopher Trybus, a 44-year-old man from Swindon, Wiltshire, of manslaughter in the death of his wife, Tarryn Baird, who died by hanging in November 2017. Trybus was also cleared of two counts of assault and one count of controlling and coercive behavior related to Baird, who was 34 at the time of her death.

The prosecution alleged that Trybus subjected Baird to extensive controlling and manipulative behavior over several years, including threats and use of violence, sexual assaults, monitoring her movements, restricting her access to money, threatening to disclose private information to her family, and isolating her from relatives. Prosecutors specifically accused him of choking her with a belt and strangling her during sex, causing her to lose consciousness on at least one occasion. Tom Little KC, for the prosecution, told the jury that this pattern of abuse occurred behind closed doors during their marriage and ultimately led to Baird's suicide. "It took place over a sustained period of time... and all of it during the course of a marriage," Little said. "It led ultimately in November 2017 to a woman in just her 30s... taking her...