‘Well-behaved’ drug addict murdered mother outside family home, court told

A “well-off” and “well-bred” drug addict stabbed his mother to death outside the family home in the presence of his father, a murder trial jury has been told.

The court heard that Gregor Bauld was 22 when he murdered his mother Christine Bauld in the street outside their home at The Coppice in Burbage, Leicestershire, on March 3.

Bauld, now 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility on Wednesday at Leicester Crown Court, but a jury will be asked to decide, on the evidence, whether he is guilty of the most serious offense of murder.

The accused sat in the dock as Gordon Aspden KC, prosecuting, opened the case and said Ms Bauld, 55, was ‘defenceless’ during the attack after being kicked out of the four-room detached house rooms by his son.

Mr Aspden said: “This case involves an allegation that the defendant murdered his mother Christine Bauld, or Tina as she was known, by stabbing her to death with a kitchen knife in the street in the presence of her father , her husband.

“The Crown’s case is that on the morning of Sunday March 3 this year, the accused murdered his mother by attacking and stabbing her to death outside the family home.

“He admits he killed his mother unlawfully and is guilty of manslaughter, but denies that what he did constitutes the more serious crime of murder.

“He was a well-educated young man, with two loving parents who lived in a comfortable and relatively affluent home environment.

“However, as he grew older and entered his early adolescence, his life was blighted by chronic substance abuse and associated mental health issues.”

The court heard Bauld began using drugs when he was 13 or 14 years old.

The prosecutor said paramedics arrived at the scene at 11.19am that morning where Ms Bauld was in cardiac arrest and underwent emergency surgery “on the concrete”, but was pronounced dead 37 minutes later late.

Mr. Aspden told the jury that a pathologist determined that Ms. Bauld’s cause of death was a back injury that penetrated the blood vessels supplying her heart.

He added that Bauld’s father, who was holding his wife after the attack, was “severely traumatized” and in an “obvious state of shock”.

Police recovered a knife with a 12.5-inch blade from the family’s kitchen with “apparent bloodstains”, the court was told.

The accused allegedly opened the door to police after the attack and appeared “calm” and “somewhat reserved.”

Mr Aspden told the court the defendant had been “in the throes of a destructive cycle of drug addiction” before the incident, and blood and urine samples showed “striking” traces of drugs including LSD and ketamine.

The trial continues.