Driven to Death? - Bully or Betrayed

Welcome to the trial UK, driven to death. I'm Caroline Cheetam. And I'm Nick Fage.

A warning this episode will outline evidence about suicide from the beginning and also

allegations of domestic violence. So today, on the podcast, we're going to hear that

Chris Tribus feels betrayed by his wife's allegations.

He says he never abused her or beat her up. And he has proof that he was nowhere near

her when she says she was attacked.

He said on one of the occasions when she sent an email to a domestic violence charity

saying she had to leave him, they were together in Scotland on a luxury holiday.

He said he may have buried his head in the sand about the extent of her problems and

he was probably too wrapped up in his work.

But he now feels confusion about what she was alleging about him.

Welcome to episode 10, bully or betrayed.

We'll be back in a second.

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Welcome back to the podcast.

We're well into the defense case now, which means that Chris Tribus is still giving evidence

to his barista.

Of course, is Katie Thorn Casey.

It's probably going to finish.

We think that evidence in the next couple of hours, recording this on Friday morning.

And then we expect Tom Little Casey, the prosecutor, to start cross examining him, which will

bring you, of course, on Tuesday next week.

We'll stick with what he's been saying to Katie Thorn, who, of course, is his own barista.

And she's been taking him through things like his diary, his text messages, and his emails

to plot not just where he was, but what he was doing in the period of time before Tarin

took her life.

And, of course, the crux of the defense case is Chris Tribus loved his wife.

He never hurt her.

And during some of the occasions, when she told people that she was being attacked by him,

he wasn't even in the country.

So Nick, we said on Tuesday, when he started to give evidence that he appeared to be pretty

uncomfortable, but that seems to have changed in the last couple of days.

We've said before this experience can be very bruising one for anyone, given evidence

in court is never an easy process.

But over the last couple of days, he's been much more comfortable, even though at times

he's had to answer some incredibly personal questions about his sex life.

We know, of course, he's not obliged to give evidence, but he's decided he wants to tell

the jury a different version of events to what they've heard so far from the prosecution.

So that's where we are.

Yeah, plus also Nick, he's facing a long prison sentence if he's convicted because

he's accused of very serious offenses, manslaughter, rape, and coercive control.

In short, he's accused of subjecting Taran to what we heard from the prosecution early

on was a tsunami of abuse, both physical and sexual.

And that means they say he's directly responsible for her taking her life.

So this, as opposed to his opportunity to convince the jury that he didn't do it.

That's right.

And while he doesn't have to prove anything, it's clear he wants a jury to consider him

not as the monster who regularly beat up bullied and raped his wife,

but as a hardworking businessman who loved his wife and tried to help her cope

with her deteriorating mental health.

Or be it, he has admitted that he didn't always recognize how much she was struggling.

So he's been asked to explain that recording of what the prosecution say was him raping Taran.

Now it's been played in court a few times now by the prosecution to say this is an attack

and by the defense to say, no, it's not.

This is consensual sex.

And this week much of what he's been asked about has been incredibly personal, as you've said.

He did say at times just how embarrassed he was to have to even talk about this,

but he knew he had to.

So for example, he said he would regularly spank Taran,

hold her down, tire up, and that she would ask him to choke her.

And it was also interesting, Nick, that despite the fact that tape is pretty central

to the arguments on both sides of this, he says he can't even remember that encounter

that happened and was the subject of that tape recording in October 2017.

Yes, well, considering how important this tape has become to his freedom,

he did say he didn't remember this event taking place

and he suddenly didn't know that Taran had been recording it.

He was asked about the tape and their sex life by Katie Thorn K.C.

And we voiced up their words.

When did you first hear that recording?

In a police interview, I had no idea it was being recorded.

Do you remember the sexual encounter with Taran?

No, not particularly.

It wasn't all the time it was like that, but it wasn't unusual.

What wasn't all the time?

The more rough aspect of our sex life, it wasn't always that physical.

The wrestling, me holding her down, the play-fighting.

He was asked to describe how the scenario might have played out.

I would be downstairs and she would call me.

And I would go upstairs and she would be standing there naked.

This is incredibly embarrassing.

I understand I have to do it.

She would like me to hold her arms and there would be play-fighting.

He said he and Taran joked that they had a safe word, which was pineapple,

but she never used it unless they were just joking around.

And he was asked about the slapping noises which could be heard on the tape.

And of course, this is what the prosecution say is the sound of her being beaten.

But he said it was just a part of their sex life.

I would spank her.

That was an aspect of what we did, on the bum with a hand.

Then there were also the sounds of Taran crying out in the tape.

When there are noises from her, do you think she is in pain?

No.

If I thought she was in pain or she said that hurts,

I would have stopped.

Now, he's already said that they bought what he called a kinky sex kit,

which had a rope, handcuffs, a blindfold, and a collar.

And he said the one and only time they'd used the collar,

it caused a bruise on Taran's neck so they hadn't used it again.

I didn't want to hurt her.

Did you ever cause her to lose consciousness?

No, never.

Now, just moving on to one of the aspects of this case that both sides actually agree on.

And that is that she complained about fainting.

She talked about fainting in the gym, for example,

and causing bruises to her body when she banged into things.

Now, we know that she had tests to find out what was going on,

to find out what was causing her to faint,

but nothing really ever came back from those tests.

And he said in court that he was only really present

on two occasions when she'd fainted, once after sex and once in the shower.

She told him there were other fainting incidents when he wasn't there

and he said he hadn't witnessed any others.

So what about all the injuries she was suffering?

And again, this isn't disputed by either side.

We know there were 25 pictures on her phone,

which she'd taken herself of injuries all over her body.

And we know in her GP records, her bruising was documented.

She had bruises to her face, her neck, her arm, and her abdomen.

We also heard a couple of weeks ago from an ex-burden bruises

who said she didn't believe the bruises could all have been self-inflicted or caused by accident.

Now, Chris Tribus said Tarin gave him various explanations for why she was getting injured.

She'd say, for example, she slipped in the bath, she'd fallen down the stairs,

or she'd fainted, and she also said she appeared to be bruising more easily.

And he also referred to the foam rollers that he said she was using a lot

after she'd been to the gym.

He thought she used them quite hard against her body,

sometimes when they were watching the TV, and he'd say,

you know, you're not supposed to do it that hard,

and he wondered if that could have caused some of the bruising.

Ultimately, he said he never thought to question it,

and at the time, it didn't seem to happen all that often in his mind.

Looking back now, though, he said maybe he was blinkered with work.

And he also said he'd never seen the injuries that we've talked a lot about

that were on her abdomen, which that bruise expert said to the jury a couple of weeks ago

could not, in her view, have been caused accidentally or from self-harm.

And another fundamental basis of his defence is that not only did he not beat and rape Tarin,

he wasn't even in the country at the time she said many of the tax happened,

and therefore it would have been impossible for him to be responsible.

Now, just to flesh this out a bit more,

Tarin made numerous allegations that Chris Tribes attacked her

about two specific ones in November 2016.

And this was when she told her GP, that's Dr. Tessa Jones and a woman's charity worker.

She said he'd attacked her on one of those occasions with a metal pole.

He said he simply wasn't there.

He wasn't even in the country, and he says there is evidence to prove it.

This evidence we were told is a series of flight bookings,

taxi rides, meal receipts, and hotel bills that show that he flew to Gothenburg in Sweden

on the 8th of November.

He then flew from Sweden to the Netherlands,

and then he flew back to London from Amsterdam on November the 23rd.

This was a business trip, which he says puts him out of the country

consistently from November the 8th to November the 23rd.

But Nick, the prosecution say that's not the case.

They allege something different.

Yeah, they say somehow rather, he got back into the country on the 10th back to the UK

and again on the 19th of November.

And this was when he attacked Tarin and beat her up.

Now, we should say we haven't seen any documents to back this up.

So not surprisingly, he was asked about this by his own barrister Katie Thorl casey.

In November 2016,

you went to Gothenburg.

What is being alleged is that you came back on the 10th,

stayed until the 13th and assaulted Tarin.

Is any of that true?

No.

Did you come back from Gothenburg?

In November? No.

It is being alleged that you came back on the 19th November.

Is that true?

No, not at all.

Did you come back from Amsterdam?

No, I did not come back.

He actually said the work he was doing when he was in Gothenburg was technically tricky

because he had a contract with a client to replace their IT software

with a more updated Microsoft kit.

This had to be well planned.

It took a long time and often things went wrong.

So he had to be there.

In fact, he said if he'd left the job,

they'd be asking whether he was

and the update might not even have happened.

Did you come back to the UK suddenly unannounced?

No.

Did you stay with her for a few days

and then assault her on the 13th?

No.

Did you, on the 19th November or any other time,

come back and hit Tarin Baird with a metal pole?

No.

He said the first time he saw her after he left on November the 8th of Sweden

was on November the 23rd when he flew back into Heathrow and he met her.

She was having a drink at the Hilton with Karina Silver

and he turned out and he paid that bill.

He was also asked to explain where he was when Tarin said

he'd attacked her again with a metal pole in May 2017.

She told her GP they'd had a row because she was annoyed.

He'd been working Wolverhampton and then he'd gone for dinner

with a couple of colleagues in the Cotswolds

rather than spending time with her.

The prosecution led she drove back from the Cotswolds and attacked her.

But he said he'd got a lift to the Cotswolds in his colleague's car

so he didn't actually have a car with him.

Did you go back to Swindon?

No.

Did you assault Tarin Baird with a metal bar?

Definitely not.

He was asked about another incident a month later

which took place.

We were told in June 2017 when Tarin told her doctor

that he'd strangled her until she was unconscious

and he'd effectively left her for dead.

Did you ever strangled Tarin Baird to unconsciousness

and leave her for dead?

No, absolutely not.

Before we add to the break, we should also just mention

another contentious issue at the heart of this case.

And that's how much Tarin was drinking again.

This is something that's come up time and time again in the case.

Her mum, Michelle, said she was worried

about how much she was drinking.

Her friends had commented on it.

And we also know that Tarin herself was telling her GP,

her mental health, specialise and her domestic violence

and visors that she knew she was drinking too much.

Now the prosecution also say that Chris Tribus

told her parents she was an alcoholic.

But again, he told a different story.

How much drink would you take in the week?

When I was home, we typically would not drink during the week.

We would share a bottle of champagne on a Sunday

or on a Saturday.

Was Tarin drinking a lot at home?

I don't remember coming home and finding overflowing,

recycling bins or bottles everywhere.

I don't remember it being a real problem.

In my mind, the mental health issues

and the PTSD were the real problems.

Buddy reminded about an email that Tarin sent him,

saying that she had a drink and drug problem.

And just to explain that, we know she was born

prescription medication on the internet at times.

And when she died, a plastic bag, in fact,

it was at the Sainsbury's plastic bag full of pills was found.

We also know, of course, that she took two overdoses

of prescription medication, which put her in A&E.

He admitted he tended to put his head in the sand

and get on with his work.

And when he was at home, he said he didn't see it.

It sounds horrible.

Maybe I didn't believe she really had any issues.

And maybe she did.

I wouldn't say that to her.

I would just try to help her.

We'll take a quick break there.

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Subject to change.

So welcome back.

So we've talked so far a lot about the injuries

Harin was suffering, how much she was drinking,

and how Chris drivers absolutely denies

that he caused any of the injuries to her.

But he does admit that maybe he didn't pay enough attention

to how much she was struggling with drinking drugs

and mental health.

He said he tried to help her.

But at times, as we said before the break,

his work was consuming.

He hadn't appreciated the extent of her problems.

And maybe he had put his head in the sand.

Now we know it's been said a number of times

that Taran's relationship with her mother-in-law was strained.

So she's called Gillian Tribus

and she lived with them in Swindon for a few months

after she came over from South Africa.

And we learned that Chris Tribus felt

stuck between a rock and a hard place as he put it

with this situation.

In the end, he said Taran's mum, Michelle,

confronted his mum when he was a well-business

and told her to leave,

which called a pretty huge family row.

He's brother emailed him and told him to

never darken our door again.

And the email ended with,

enjoy your life with the beds.

But one of the key elements of the prosecution case

is this allegation of coercive control.

We've talked so far about the allegations of the physical attacks

and we've also talked about the allegation of rape.

But this allegation, of course, of control

underpins a lot of the prosecution case.

They say he was controlling

and they gave examples such as

she had to ask for permission

for the house and the car keys.

She had to have his lunch and dinner

on the table at certain times.

He also controlled the money

and we were told he tracked her phone.

Now, he denies being controlling

and it would take one of those things of the tracking app.

This was one they used as a couple called Life360.

Now, that's similar to kind of find my friends on Apple.

He said they both used it to keep track on each other,

especially he said because he was away for work.

He said he suggested it,

but he didn't insist on it.

Was it something you insisted on?

I suggested it for her tracking me.

I would be between flights.

So it was much easier for her to track me.

With her fainting, it was nice to know where she was

if needs be.

Yeah, he also said that she used

to find my friends on Apple on her iPhone with her family.

So tracking each other was a perfectly normal thing for her to do.

The other aspect of controlling behavior,

which is accused of,

is keeping the house and car keys

in a lock drawer in his home office.

And when Michelle Baird gave evidence a few weeks ago,

she described that she teed Taran

have to ask him for permission to have the keys

if she wanted to go out.

But he said the keys were kept there in the drawer for security.

Taran had a golf sports car

which could be a target for thieves.

And they'd had two attempted burglaries at the house.

So they stopped keeping the keys on the hook by the door

because thieves had been known to put a hook

through the letterbox to steal keys.

Yeah, he was also asked about the allegation

that not only was he tracking her

and that sort of hiding the keys in a locked drawer,

he'd also once followed her to the gym and threatened her.

But again, Katie Thorn,

Casey, his barrister,

had pictures which she showed to the jury,

which she said,

shows that actually gone to the gym together that day.

What Taran said to Dr. Jones

was that you had found her at the gym and threatened her.

I never threatened her.

We went to the gym, nothing more than that.

How does it make you feel that she said these things?

I have such complex feelings.

I know I didn't do these things.

I think it's very clear I loved her dearly.

And she's gone and said all these horrible things.

But she's not here.

I can't be upset with her.

Now throughout this period,

lots of people have been urging Taran to go to the police

and tell them that Chris had been abusing her

as she'd been describing to them.

But despite everyone's advice, Taran refused to report him.

However, after one of our hospital visits,

a nurse reported what she'd seen

and eventually the police did get involved.

We know Taran was seeking assurances

that charges would be bought against him,

that every time she was asked to take the allegations further

by making a statement she refused.

Yeah, and eventually all of this came to a head

on September 1st, 2017.

And what happened then was Chris and Taran both went

to a police station.

Now this is Gable Cross Police Station

and this was to give a statement.

Now you might recall this came up earlier in the case.

And what happened was they routed the police station

the police officer who was involved in the case,

she was called PC Box.

She wasn't at work that day.

And no one else seemed to have a clue what they were doing there.

So they waited for about 90 minutes

and then they were told they were free to go.

And what he said in court was this whole business had been started

because when Taran had been in hospital to be treated

and she had bruises that the nurse reported to the police.

He also said that Alan Taran's dad had made a joke

in front of the staff that he hoped Chris wasn't causing

those bruises and he said it was after that

that the nurse made the call to the police.

But he said the police never got in touch with him direct.

They never asked to see him.

He only knew about any of this because Taran had told him.

How was Taran about the police investigation?

She seemed very anxious about it, exceptionally anxious.

She was worried for me.

She was scared that she had somehow got me in trouble.

Were you angry?

No, I remember sending her a message saying don't worry about it.

It's a misunderstanding and it will pass.

Before we finish, we just wanted to bring you

or we also heard about Holiday the couple had a few weeks before she died.

This was a fun live 100 mile road trip around Scotland

and he was quite emotional when he said

they'd driven to Johnner Grotes in his Porsche

and stayed in luxury hotels.

He said it was their last holiday together

and he actually spoke about it at Taran's funeral

because they'd been happy and relaxed together.

But Katie Thorne showed him an email

that Taran had written as they were on that trip.

This was to a women's domestic violence charity

in which she said that her situation had become increasingly difficult

and she was desperate to leave her husband

and Nick, he has been quite composed.

We said the last couple of days in court

but he did break down when he talked about this, didn't he?

Yeah, he's done his absolute best to be calm, considered

and just answer the questions that are put to him.

But here it was too much for him.

He was wiping his eyes, his nose was running,

and the proceedings were halted

and the Yasha got up and offered him a tissue.

And then he said,

oh, is everybody waiting for me?

And then he proceeded.

Hearing that, how does that make you feel?

Clearly, I was driving this small two-door car

and she was sitting next to me sending this email.

I felt betrayed, but she is not here, so I can't be angry.

Why can't you be angry?

Because I can't bring myself to feel anger.

More betrayal, thinking about what a lovely holiday it was.

It's difficult to reconcile in my head what was going on.

So you will remember Chris Tribus

denies the allegation of manslaughter, rape and coercive control.

That's it from us at the trial UK.

Now, a quick mention that tomorrow on Trial Plus,

Liz and I have an exclusive interview with Dr. Sandy Bowen.

She was one of the key expert witnesses

for the prosecution at Lucy Letbe's trial.

We're running that tomorrow on Trial Plus.

So please do subscribe because Trial Plus

is a crime desk member, only podcast.

You can start your free subscription today.

Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information.

The link is in the show notes.

We know the evidence in this trial is very difficult.

So for anyone who's struggling with their mental health,

please contact one of the many services out there.

The Samaritans is a 24-hour helpline on 116-123.

In the meantime, you can follow us on TikTok at Daily Mail Crime

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Leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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