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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=495055
Gun expert jailed for murdering ex-wife
By Paul Dykes
[email protected]
25 February 2004
THE former police armourer who shot his wife in the back of her head with his police-issue pistol has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum 11-year term, after pleading guilty to her murder.
Adrian Stewart Baird, (47), of Skerryview near Broughshane, was sentenced today by Lord Justice McCollum at Ballymena Crown Court, sitting at Laganside in Belfast.
The court heard that Baird admitted firing the single shot that killed his wife on February 10 last year, and that other than for his early guilty plea he would have likely faced a minimum 14-year tariff.
Katrina Baird (41) also suffered a broken nose and according to the official pathologist had injuries consistent with having been punched in the face, and partially strangled.
Lord Justice McCollum said he did not accept the version of events put forward by the defendant, but in view of the early plea, and the remorse shown, he felt that 11 years was the correct tariff for Baird to spend in custody before being considered for parole.
The court was told by Crown prosecutor Gordon Kerr QC that Baird travelled out to a remote farmhouse near Broughshane last February to confront his estranged wife at her workplace.
There were no witnesses to what happened at the farm, he said, but in an emergency phone call requesting an ambulance immediately after the killing, Baird told the operator that he "had lost the head and shot her" during an argument.
"She was just on the ground, and I just left her," the taped conversation continued.
"I am very sad and sorry."
Mr Kerr said it was clear from where the single 9mm pistol shell had been found that there was some distance between the victim and her murderer.
He had used the pistol given to him by the PSNI as his personal protection weapon in his role as a civilian police armourer. Mr Kerr said Baird told police that the couple were in the porch of the house, and that Baird had pulled the gun and aimed it at his own head.
Katrina Baird had turned him round in some way, and started walking away, with Baird holding the pistol in his right hand at waist height. He then fired one shot at his retreating wife, hitting her in the back of her head.
Baird's counsel, Richard Weir QC, said Baird had succumbed to jealousy after suspecting his estranged wife had been out socialising the previous night.
He said Baird contended he had gone out to the farmhouse to take his own life, using the weapon he carried regularly.
An argument had ensued, he said, and Baird admitted firing the fatal shot.
"He has accepted by his plea that he intended to kill his wife at that fell moment," Mr Weir told the court.
He said the change of plea to guilty in December had been done by Baird solely to spare the family any further suffering. Baird had intended to seek a manslaughter ruling in court.
In delivering his sentence, Lord Justice McCollum said the killing was a tragic case that had robbed a family of their father.
In setting the minimum 11-year term, he stressed that this was the absolute minimum Baird must serve in custody, and at the end of the term Baird would not automatically be released, but would have to be considered for parole.
He said the term included an element of deterrent to make men aware that they faced a substantial sentence if they murdered their spouse.
"I have difficulty in accepting his (Baird's) account of the actual killing of Mrs Baird. She was quite a distance away from him when shot, and it looks like she was moving away. It was a pretty deliberate act on his part.
"I don't accept this confused account of a struggle, or partial accidental firing of the gun. He went there with a gun in his possession, and jealousy in his heart, and then carried out this terrible act."
Family members in the public gallery, including the couple's eldest daughter Linzi (25) remained silent throughout the sentencing, and declined to comment outside the court.
Katrina Baird's parents, Sam and Margaret Gilchrist of Raceview Road, Broughshane, believe she was callously shot by a firearms expert who knew exactly what he was doing.
After killing his wife - the childhood sweetheart he first met 25 years ago - Baird gave himself up to police in Ballymena.
Baird was granted limited bail in the High Court soon after the killing to enable him to undergo pyschiatric treatment at hospital.
The victim was the mother of the couple's three children, and a grandmother.
The youngest child, Peter (11) now lives with the Gilchrists, while Linzi (25) and Steven (22) have their own homes.
Gun expert jailed for murdering ex-wife
By Paul Dykes
[email protected]
25 February 2004
THE former police armourer who shot his wife in the back of her head with his police-issue pistol has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum 11-year term, after pleading guilty to her murder.
Adrian Stewart Baird, (47), of Skerryview near Broughshane, was sentenced today by Lord Justice McCollum at Ballymena Crown Court, sitting at Laganside in Belfast.
The court heard that Baird admitted firing the single shot that killed his wife on February 10 last year, and that other than for his early guilty plea he would have likely faced a minimum 14-year tariff.
Katrina Baird (41) also suffered a broken nose and according to the official pathologist had injuries consistent with having been punched in the face, and partially strangled.
Lord Justice McCollum said he did not accept the version of events put forward by the defendant, but in view of the early plea, and the remorse shown, he felt that 11 years was the correct tariff for Baird to spend in custody before being considered for parole.
The court was told by Crown prosecutor Gordon Kerr QC that Baird travelled out to a remote farmhouse near Broughshane last February to confront his estranged wife at her workplace.
There were no witnesses to what happened at the farm, he said, but in an emergency phone call requesting an ambulance immediately after the killing, Baird told the operator that he "had lost the head and shot her" during an argument.
"She was just on the ground, and I just left her," the taped conversation continued.
"I am very sad and sorry."
Mr Kerr said it was clear from where the single 9mm pistol shell had been found that there was some distance between the victim and her murderer.
He had used the pistol given to him by the PSNI as his personal protection weapon in his role as a civilian police armourer. Mr Kerr said Baird told police that the couple were in the porch of the house, and that Baird had pulled the gun and aimed it at his own head.
Katrina Baird had turned him round in some way, and started walking away, with Baird holding the pistol in his right hand at waist height. He then fired one shot at his retreating wife, hitting her in the back of her head.
Baird's counsel, Richard Weir QC, said Baird had succumbed to jealousy after suspecting his estranged wife had been out socialising the previous night.
He said Baird contended he had gone out to the farmhouse to take his own life, using the weapon he carried regularly.
An argument had ensued, he said, and Baird admitted firing the fatal shot.
"He has accepted by his plea that he intended to kill his wife at that fell moment," Mr Weir told the court.
He said the change of plea to guilty in December had been done by Baird solely to spare the family any further suffering. Baird had intended to seek a manslaughter ruling in court.
In delivering his sentence, Lord Justice McCollum said the killing was a tragic case that had robbed a family of their father.
In setting the minimum 11-year term, he stressed that this was the absolute minimum Baird must serve in custody, and at the end of the term Baird would not automatically be released, but would have to be considered for parole.
He said the term included an element of deterrent to make men aware that they faced a substantial sentence if they murdered their spouse.
"I have difficulty in accepting his (Baird's) account of the actual killing of Mrs Baird. She was quite a distance away from him when shot, and it looks like she was moving away. It was a pretty deliberate act on his part.
"I don't accept this confused account of a struggle, or partial accidental firing of the gun. He went there with a gun in his possession, and jealousy in his heart, and then carried out this terrible act."
Family members in the public gallery, including the couple's eldest daughter Linzi (25) remained silent throughout the sentencing, and declined to comment outside the court.
Katrina Baird's parents, Sam and Margaret Gilchrist of Raceview Road, Broughshane, believe she was callously shot by a firearms expert who knew exactly what he was doing.
After killing his wife - the childhood sweetheart he first met 25 years ago - Baird gave himself up to police in Ballymena.
Baird was granted limited bail in the High Court soon after the killing to enable him to undergo pyschiatric treatment at hospital.
The victim was the mother of the couple's three children, and a grandmother.
The youngest child, Peter (11) now lives with the Gilchrists, while Linzi (25) and Steven (22) have their own homes.
