Murdered author feared for her state of mind, says mum
AUTHOR Helen Bailey was sleepy and suffering from memory lapses in the weeks before she died, a court heard yesterday.
Ms Bailey was allegedly being secretly drugged by fiance Ian Stewart before he is said to have murdered her and thrown her body in a cesspit.
Yesterday her mother Eileen Bailey told how she was “uneasy” about her 51-year-old daughter’s relationship with Stewart because of her “state of mind”.
Mrs Bailey, 88, wept as she recalled her daughter’s concerns.
A week before she disappeared, the author rang her in a panic to say: “I’ve just slept five hours.” Her mother told the jury: “That took me by surprise and I said, ‘You must have needed it’, and she said, ‘What, after a night’s sleep?”’
Breaking down, Mrs Bailey said: “I feel I was dismissive.”
A week earlier, Ms Bailey had taken her miniature dachshund Boris to the beach in Broadstairs, Kent, but forgot about him and walked home alone.
“That would not have happened previously,” Mrs Bailey told St Albans Crown Court. “She was almost traumaAsked Ian Stewart is accused of killing his former fiancee, children’s author Helen Bailey, pictured right with her pet Boris tised by that, repeating, ‘You know, Mum, I would never have done that.’
“That really worried me. She was having lapses in memory, she just had such a good memory beforehand.” Of another incident she said: “Helen said when she was sitting at the computer she couldn’t recognise her own hands. That was worrying. She was feeling sleepy, a lot of the time.” about her daughter’s relationship with Stewart, Mrs Bailey said: “I felt uneasy about it. Latterly I was quite unhappy – mainly because of Helen’s state of mind.”
Cross-examined by Simon Russell Flint QC, defending, Mrs Bailey said her daughter was menopausal.
The writer had been worried about dizziness as early as 2012 and recently bought three new pairs of glasses, her mother said.
Ms Bailey’s remains, and those of her dog, were found in a cesspit under a garage at the couple’s home in Royston, Herts, last July.
Jurors have heard how traces of Zopiclone, prescribed for Stewart’s insomnia, were found in her body.
Stewart, 56, is accused of killing Ms Bailey, 51, in April last year.
The computer expert denies murder, fraud, perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial. The trial continues.