'˜Sentencing in captive rape case should not be the end'
The sentences given to a 'depraved' husband and wife duo for the repeated rape and abuse of a disabled woman spanning several years must not be the end of the matter, a prominent unionist has said.
Lord Morrow, DUP chairman and former MLA, said a raft of “unanswered questions” remain over how the victim – who had been reported missing in England in 2004 – went undiscovered by the authorities until 2012.
She was kept in a room with no handle on the inside of the door, meaning it could only be opened by her captors.
Upon being rescued from the house in Craigavon, she declared: “Yes, freedom.”
Keith and Caroline Baker, who both formerly worked for the Salvation Army, were given sentences of 15 years and three years, respectively, for a long litany of crimes.
Only half of Mrs Baker’s sentence will be served in jail, with the rest spent on licence.
Lord Morrow said he has followed the case for years.
“The sentencing in this case closes a chapter, but not the book,” he said.
“There are too many discrepancies and unanswered questions as to how this cruelty and abuse of a vulnerable woman was able to occur in the first place and continue for so long undetected.”
There had been concerns in relation to the couple when they lived in England many years ago, he said.
He added there had been “a lack of joined-up thinking among agencies” – something which should continue to be investigated, even though the case against the Bakers is over.
“I am continuing to press for an inquiry into all aspects of this case, in particular the failures of multiple agencies in England,” he said.
In an interview with the BBC a woman called Mandy Highfield – who had also lived with the Bakers, and was the mother of four of Keith Baker’s eight children – said she had reported the case to police.
She was quoted as saying she “couldn’t handle” the poor living conditions of the victim, whom she described as having the “mind of a 12-year-old”.
Ms Highfield said that she knew nothing of the sexual abuse, the BBC reported.
The court heard that some of that sexual abuse of the woman had been filmed.
PSNI Detective Superintendent George Clarke said: “I think in my time in the police, I’ve never come across a crime that is quite so depraved and awful.”