Gerard Baden-Clay's mistress tells court he had at least two other affairs
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Version 0 of 1. The former mistress of Gerard Baden-Clay, who is accused of killing his wife, says he had affairs with at least two other women, one while they were in a relationship. On Tuesday real estate worker Toni McHugh returned to the witness box in the supreme court in Brisbane where the murder trial of Baden-Clay, 43, has entered its fifth day. On Monday she detailed her rollercoaster three-and-a-half year affair with former real estate agent Baden-Clay, which ended when his wife, Allison Baden-Clay, vanished in April 2012 and was found dead 10 days later. Being re-examined by crown prosecutor Todd Fuller, McHugh said Baden-Clay had told her in a conversation in December 2011 about affairs with two other women. At the time the father of three had just rekindled his relationship with McHugh after a break of several months. “He said there are some things I need to one day tell you,” McHugh said, adding he was referring to the affairs with two other women. One of the affairs occurred when they were not seeing each other, but the other had happened during their secret relationship. Baden-Clay told her it had happened when he went to a real estate conference in Sydney with other sales members from his real estate practice, and the affair happened with another woman at the conference. McHugh said that on the first day of the conference Baden-Clay talked her into travelling to see him in Sydney: “My understanding was that it happened the day before.” Earlier, a teary McHugh insisted under cross examination that in early 2012 she believed Baden-Clay would leave his marriage for her. Defence barrister Michael Byrne said Baden-Clay had been promising to leave his wife for years and had never acted on it. “I wasn't expecting it to happen in days,” she said. “One day you expected it?” Byrne asked. “Yes, one day I did expect it to happen.” Allison Baden-Clay's body was found on a creek bank in Anstead in Brisbane's west on 30 April, 2012, 10 days after her husband reported her missing from their nearby home. Baden-Clay has pleaded not guilty to murder. The court was later told Allison Baden-Clay complained to a GP about bad mood swings a month before she vanished. Dr Nicholas Bourke said he first saw the mother of three in May 2011. He said she had complained of feelings of guilt, anxiety, worry, low mood and teariness, so he prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft. Three months later he performed a mental health assessment after his patient said she suspected her husband was having an affair. Allison Baden-Clay received a score of 18 of 50; 50 is the highest level of distress. “My conclusion was there wasn't a significant level of distress,” Bourke told the court. He later added that his overall opinion was that his patient was not a high risk of suicide. Bourke said Allison Baden-Clay returned in October saying her suspicion about her husband had been confirmed and he doubled her dose of medication. She returned to the practice a final time on 19 March, 2012 – a month before she vanished – for a routine cancer screening test, and complained of bad premenstrual mood swings. Bourke said a colleague treated her that day and she left with the same, higher-level prescription of antidepressants. A psychologist who saw Baden-Clay three times in 2010 and 2011 for marriage counselling at his wife's request also gave evidence. Dr Lawrence Lumsden said Baden-Clay explored “options” for the long-term future of the marriage but things were put on the backburner when the January 2011 floods occurred. The trial continues. |