Gary Baird: Wife murder trial jury discharged

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Image caption, Gary Baird denies murdering his wife Susan Baird at their home in Belfast in 2020

The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife in their home in south Belfast has been discharged.

Gary Alexander Baird, 64, denies the murder of 60-year-old Susan Baird at their home in Four Winds in 2020.

She died as a result of catastrophic head injuries in their Windermere Road home in August of that year.

At Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday, jurors were told the trial could not continue because a legal issue had arisen.

Mr Baird, a former security guard, has admitted attacking his wife with a hammer.

He has pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter, but this plea was not accepted by the prosecution.

As the murder trial was due to enter its second week, a legal issue arose which was dealt with in the absence of the jury.

Mr Justice McFarland told the jury of five men and seven women: "We have been dealing with a lot of issues in this case, all day today, and the long and the short of it is that we're not in a position to proceed with the trial now.

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Image caption, Susan Baird died at her home in Windermere Gardens in south Belfast in August 2020

"We can't really adjourn it so in the circumstances I'm going to discharge you".

He added: "It's nothing to do with anything that's happened with you but we are not in a position to continue with this trial and bring it to a conclusion".

Mr Baird has been remanded back into custody ahead of a retrial.