Ex-Councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden Faces Murder Trial

A former Gold Coast City councillor is to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court over the alleged murder of his stepfather in 2023.

Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden was charged with the murder of Robert Lumsden in the family’s suburban home on August 23, 2023.

At the time of his arrest, Mr Bayldon-Lumsden was serving as the division 7 councillor on the Gold Coast City Council.

Mr Bayldon-Lumsden was released on bail under strict conditions about a week after his arrest and soon after voluntarily stepped down as a councillor.

At a committal hearing at Southport Magistrates Court today, Prosecutor Nicole Jackson said police would allege Mr Bayldon-Lumsden applied a "chokehold" to his stepfather after a verbal and physical argument between the two.

The court heard Mr Bayldon-Lumsden admitted in a police interview to strangling his stepfather in the kitchen of their Arundel home.

Defence tells of struggle in kitchen

Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt told the court that, sometime after 3pm, Mr Lumsden pushed his stepson, who pushed him back, causing the older man to trip backwards.

Mr Eberhardt said, in a struggle on the tiled kitchen floor, Mr Bayldon-Lumsden put his 115 kilogram stepfather in a chokehold.

Under cross-examination, Gold Coast University Hospital senior forensic pathologist Dr Rexson Tse detailed his post-mortem examination of Mr Lumsden.

Dr Tse said Mr Lumsden was "morbidly obese" and had heart issues.

He told the court Mr Lumsden had no fractures to his scalp, face or teeth and no trauma or bleeding to the brain.

Dr Tse said Mr Lumsden’s heart was still pumping when the chokehold was applied because he had bloodshot eyes, which indicated he still had blood pressure during the struggle.

He said Mr Lumsden’s death didn’t fit the definition of a "sudden cardiac death" because trauma was involved.

Mr Eberhardt told the court the "million dollar question" was whether Mr Lumsden had a heart attack and whether it would have occurred if the altercation had not taken place.

Forensic medical officer Dr Julia De Boss examined Mr Bayldon-Lumsden at Gold Coast University hospital six hours after he was arrested.

She told the court that he had welts along his neck and arm but couldn’t conclude what caused them or when.

‘Coercive control Google searches’

During a hearing in the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Nicole Jackson said police would allege Mr Bayldon-Lumsden choked his stepfather after a verbal and physical argument between them.

The court heard evidence from digital forensic analyst Senior Constable Alastair Smith that police had accessed the internet browsing history on Mr Bayldon-Lumsden’s mobile phone.

Mr Smith told the court Mr Bayldon-Lumsden had entered Google searches for "escaping domestic violence and coercive control" and "coercive control and the rights of women" the day before the alleged murder.

He said the helpline web page of domestic violence support service White Ribbon had also been visited that day.

Forensic analysis of Mr Lumsden’s phone found he had saved Mr Bayldon-Lumsden’s contact details as "c**k gobbler" and those of his wife, Mr Bayldon-Lumsden’s mother, as "Grumpy", Mr Smith told the court.

Magistrate Lisa O’Neill committed Mr Bayldon-Lumsden to a trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court at a date to be set.

Ms O’Neill asked Mr Bayldon-Lumsden if he had anything to say to the charge, to which he responded: "Not guilty."