A former councillor will stand trial for the alleged murder of his stepfather as a court heard Google searches made on his phone will form part of the evidence.
Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden, 32, is accused of murdering Robert Lumsden, 58, at his family’s Gold Coast home in Arundel on August 23, 2023.
Bayldon-Lumsden was serving as the division seven councillor for the Gold Coast City Council for the Liberal-National Party at the time of his arrest.
He voluntarily stepped down from the position about a week later.
Prosecutor Nicole Jackson laid out the Crown’s case against the former politician during a committal hearing at the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
She said police would allege the defendant put his stepfather in a ‘chokehold’ following a verbal and physical argument, the ABC reported.
The court also heard Bayldon-Lumsden admitted to strangling his stepfather in the kitchen of their Arundel home during a police interview.
Defence barrister Craig Eberhard said Bayldon-Lumsden had been subject to an abusive and controlling relationship with his stepfather.
Former Gold Coast councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden is pictured with his mother, Katrina Bayldon (left) and his sister Ruth (right)
Bayldon-Lumsden is pictured standing before his stepfather, Robert Lumsden
Mr Eberhard told the court Mr Lumsden had pushed his stepson, who pushed him back, causing the older man to fall backwards.
The barrister said Bayldon-Lumsden then put his stepfather in a chokehold during a struggle on the kitchen floor.
A forensic pathologist told the court Mr Lumsden was ‘morbidly obese’ and suffered heart issues. Mr Eberhard said the ‘million-dollar question’ was whether Mr Lumsden had a heart attack and whether it would have occurred regardless of the altercation.
Digital forensic analyst Senior Constable Alastair Smith told the court police had accessed internet browsing data on Bayldon-Lumsden’s phone.
Among the results were searches relating to ‘escaping domestic violence and coercive control’ and ‘coercive control and the rights of women’, which were made the day prior to the alleged murder, the ABC reported.
The homepage of the domestic violence support service White Ribbon had also been visited on the same day, Mr Smith told the court.
Separate analysis of Mr Lumsden’s phone found his stepson’s contact had been saved under the name: ‘c**k gobbler’, Mr Smith said.
He said his wife’s contact, Bayldon-Lumsden’s mother, was saved as ‘Grumpy’.
Baylden-Lumsden mounted a controversial bid for re-election after being charged with murder. He is pictured campaigning on the Gold Coast in March, 2024
Magistrate Lisa O’Neill committed the former politician to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court at a date to be determined.
Asked whether he had anything to say to the charge, the accused said: ‘Not guilty’.
Bayldon-Lumsden launched a controversial bid for re-election as an independent ahead of the 2024 Gold Coast City Council election.
At the time, state MP Sam O’Connor described the bid as ‘completely irresponsible’, telling AAP he would likely be suspended if he was re-elected.
He was ultimately unsuccessful, placing third on first preferences with 21.72 per cent of the vote in the seat he had resoundingly won four years earlier.
