Belfast mother-of-four Susan Baird died as the result of “catastrophic” head injuries, a murder trial has heard.
Gary Alexander Baird is standing trial at Belfast Crown Court on a charge of murdering his 60-year old wife in their Windermere Road home on August 16, 2020.
The 64-year old former BBC security guard has pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter but this plea has not been accepted by the prosecution.
On the third day of the trial, the jury heard evidence from several health professionals including a doctor who assessed Baird’s mental state after his arrest and the pathologist who carried out an autopsy on Mrs Baird’s remains.
The assistant state pathologist for Northern Ireland was called to give evidence and confirmed he conducted the post mortem on August 18, 2020.
When asked what his conclusions were, the pathologist said the cause of death was due to lacerations to the brain associated with fractures to the skull and facial bones as a result of multiple blows to the head.
From the witness box, he said: “These injuries were consistent with having been sustained as a result of blows from a heavy weapon such as a hammer.
”It is not possible to accurately determine precisely how many times she had been struck on the head but undoubtedly many blows had been delivered.”
Branding the fatal head wounds as “catastrophic”, the pathologist said the injuries were so severe that Mrs Baird had be identified by her dental records.
He added that he found “no defensive-type injuries” on her body.
Also called to the witness box was a mental health social worker who spoke to Baird in hospital where he was being treated for a self-inflicted head wound caused by a hammer.
Due to concerns regarding Baird’s mental state, a mental health assessment was carried out on August 26, 2020 involving this medic and Baird’s GP.
He described Baird as a softly spoken man who “shuffled” round his bed and round the room during the assessment.
When asked by Crown barrister Rick Weir KC if Baird made any comments when he was asked what happened on the day of the incident, the doctor said Baird told him he had had a tiff with his wife and was doing DIY in the house which was why he had the hammer.
Baird also said heard a voice in his head saying ‘This is your time. This is your opportunity.’
The mental health social worker confirmed Baird told him the voice he heard was ‘not natural’ and that he had been hearing ‘that same voice’ since June 2020.
He also confirmed a bed was found for Baird in the City Hospital’s acute mental health inpatient unit and that he was transferred there the day after the assessment where he remained detained for over a year.