:00:12. > :00:14.This is BBC Newsline and these are the headlines
:00:15. > :00:26.This man and his wife jailed for a horrific catalogue of abuse.
:00:27. > :00:31.In my time in the police I have never come across a crime that is
:00:32. > :00:33.quite so depraved and awful. Police in Belfast investigate
:00:34. > :00:35.five sudden deaths The family of Michaela McAreavey
:00:36. > :00:54.offer a reward in Mauritius I appeal to you, the Mirage and
:00:55. > :00:58.people, the reality is that there are killers walking around in your
:00:59. > :01:00.communities, in your villages and in your times.
:01:01. > :01:03.Also to come on the programme, how many families will be affected
:01:04. > :01:09.by big changes to the tax and benefit system?
:01:10. > :01:16.Can Rory McIlroy put his name into the golfing record books by winning
:01:17. > :01:18.the first major championship of the year, the Masters? Join me in
:01:19. > :01:19.Augusta. And some parts prone to patchy
:01:20. > :01:21.drizzle but the emphasis mostly First, a shocking story
:01:22. > :01:31.involving a litany of abuse And I am warning you in
:01:32. > :01:36.advance you will find Today we saw sentencing of a married
:01:37. > :01:42.couple who sexually abused a woman with learning difficulties -
:01:43. > :01:45.a woman who was virtually held prisoner in squalid conditions
:01:46. > :01:49.in their Craigavon home. 61-year-old Keith Baker
:01:50. > :01:55.from Drumellan Mews was today His 54-year-old wife Caroline Baker
:01:56. > :02:02.was given 18 months in prison For legal reasons we cannot
:02:03. > :02:08.show a picture of her. In a moment we'll hear
:02:09. > :02:11.from the woman who alerted First our reporter, Gordon Adair,
:02:12. > :02:16.was at the court, and again, I must warn that you may find
:02:17. > :02:30.the details upsetting. A room without comfort which was
:02:31. > :02:35.home to a life without dignity, love, hope or escape. For eight
:02:36. > :02:41.years this tiny dirty room without bed sheets, curtain, light or carpet
:02:42. > :02:47.was all the Bakers' victim sort of the world. The door handle had been
:02:48. > :02:54.removed. This was effectively herself. A week before Christmas
:02:55. > :02:55.2012, these officers acting on a request from social services rescued
:02:56. > :02:56.her. As the investigation progressed,
:02:57. > :02:58.it became clear to detectives this isn't just physical abuse,
:02:59. > :03:05.there is a depraved sexual element. This woman was raped repeatedly
:03:06. > :03:09.by Baker, who was aided It would also appear these depraved
:03:10. > :03:17.sexual assaults were recorded and we can only presume
:03:18. > :03:32.that was for The judge said it was difficult to
:03:33. > :03:37.understand how the Bakers had so lost their moral compass as to treat
:03:38. > :03:42.the woman the way they did, but he said sentencing them individually
:03:43. > :03:47.was a difficult exercise. He described Keith Baker as the
:03:48. > :03:53.Svengali figure whereas Caroline Baker was a pawn doing his wedding.
:03:54. > :03:58.The Bakers lived in these two houses which had been knocked into one.
:03:59. > :04:04.They are now occupied by people with no relation to the Bakers. There was
:04:05. > :04:09.Keith, Caroline, therefore children and Mandy Highfield, who lived as
:04:10. > :04:14.another wife with four children she and Keith had to gather. Finally
:04:15. > :04:19.there was the vulnerable woman kept hidden from view. These photos show
:04:20. > :04:26.the family's well-stocked fridge but for the woman there was hardly any
:04:27. > :04:27.food. When rescued sea was so malnourished that almost all her
:04:28. > :04:29.teeth had fallen out. It is almost impossible to estimate
:04:30. > :04:31.or predict or imagine The abuse, the fear she was living
:04:32. > :04:36.with must have reached a stage where this grotesque ill-treatment
:04:37. > :04:41.and abuse became her normal life. I think in my time in the police
:04:42. > :04:57.I have never come across a crime To keep this secret required great
:04:58. > :05:03.control. A woman who knew the family that does not want to be identified
:05:04. > :05:11.said Baker achieved this by running his household like a cult. He was
:05:12. > :05:17.horrendously controlling. He used to stand outside the doctors because I
:05:18. > :05:20.would have met there often. He would stand outside the doctors watching
:05:21. > :05:26.what she said. He used to sit around the corner. It was revealed in court
:05:27. > :05:31.that Keith and Caroline Baker first met in the 1970s when they were in
:05:32. > :05:39.the Salvation Army, but as a prosecuting lawyer put it, Keith
:05:40. > :05:43.Baker's life was dominated by his sexual wants, culminating in the
:05:44. > :05:49.keeping of this woman as a virtual prisoner for eight years. The night
:05:50. > :05:51.it is the Bakers who are prisoners as they begin lengthy sentences.
:05:52. > :05:54.Today Lord Morrow, who raised the case with the Home Office three
:05:55. > :06:00.years ago, repeated his call for an inquiry.
:06:01. > :06:05.He referred to "too many discrepancies and unanswered
:06:06. > :06:06.questions" and said sentencing closes the chapter,
:06:07. > :06:11.The woman who initially alerted the police had four children
:06:12. > :06:14.Mandy Highfield's been speaking to our reporter Gordon Adair.
:06:15. > :06:19.He asked about her relationship with Baker.
:06:20. > :06:28.He was OK for the first six, eight years, and then he started getting
:06:29. > :06:29.violent. I was six months pregnant
:06:30. > :06:33.when he punched me in the stomach and threw me down
:06:34. > :06:40.the stairs and I lost my little boy. I was in labour for 14 hours,
:06:41. > :06:43.he was stillborn and after that He started getting
:06:44. > :06:57.aggressive from there. If we would go out he would be as
:06:58. > :07:02.nice as pie and then when we were on our own he would hit me because I
:07:03. > :07:09.was chatting to people, I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody or have
:07:10. > :07:13.friends or even talk to my family. At some point a third woman came
:07:14. > :07:22.into the picture. Tell us more about that. He would hit her and lock her
:07:23. > :07:24.up. He would even put in the shower fully clothed and give her a
:07:25. > :07:37.freezing cold shower. She didn't understand about not
:07:38. > :07:40.going into anybody else's room, if she went into the children's
:07:41. > :07:45.bedrooms and sort sweets she would take them, so he put in the shower
:07:46. > :07:48.and gave her a cold shower something like that.
:07:49. > :07:52.There was no light bulb and no lights, no carpet
:07:53. > :07:54.on the floor, no curtains up against the window.
:07:55. > :08:11.Shocking. Yeah, it was. It was only when I was in the police station
:08:12. > :08:15.that I found out that Caroline was helping Keith to sexually assault
:08:16. > :08:22.her. I didn't know anything about Caroline assaulting her. And how did
:08:23. > :08:26.you feel? Disgusted because Caroline was like a sister to me and I
:08:27. > :08:34.thought she couldn't do something like that but obviously she can, and
:08:35. > :08:38.it just made me hate her. And hate him as well. How could they treat
:08:39. > :08:45.somebody like that with disability like she had? It wasn't fair on her
:08:46. > :08:51.and I just couldn't handle it, so I went to the police and told them,
:08:52. > :08:57.and then the police came down and they took me out of the house and
:08:58. > :09:03.talk to me and I told them everything, and then the social
:09:04. > :09:08.worker and the police went upstairs and so the woman in the bedroom with
:09:09. > :09:16.no light, no door handle on the inside. They took out. She didn't
:09:17. > :09:22.want to go because she was scared and I said to her, you've got to go,
:09:23. > :09:26.you cannot live like this any more, and she said OK, and then she left
:09:27. > :09:30.with the police and the social worker. Mandy Highfield speaking to
:09:31. > :09:32.Gordon Adair. The separate sudden deaths
:09:33. > :09:35.of a 16-year-old girl and four men in the greater Belfast area
:09:36. > :09:37.are being investigated As they await the results
:09:38. > :09:40.of postmortem examinations, detectives already believe at least
:09:41. > :09:42.three may be connected At this stage the police don't
:09:43. > :09:46.think any single drug Police believe they could all be
:09:47. > :10:05.related to drugs misuse. -- police believe several are drugs
:10:06. > :10:11.related. Although the investigation is at an early stage. At the moment
:10:12. > :10:16.we do not believe these deaths are linked and there is no emerging
:10:17. > :10:20.trend of one specific drug. It appears to be a combination of
:10:21. > :10:21.different drugs, this crowd medication, illegal drugs and
:10:22. > :10:25.alcohol. In total since Friday five
:10:26. > :10:29.sudden deaths have been Two men in their 20s
:10:30. > :10:33.died in West Belfast - one in Riverdale Park North
:10:34. > :10:35.and the other on the A 16-year-old girl died at
:10:36. > :10:39.an address on Great Victoria Street, while another man died in a men's
:10:40. > :10:41.hostel in Utility Street Last Friday a man died
:10:42. > :10:45.in Verner Street, Police say such a high number
:10:46. > :10:49.of deaths in just a few days is highly unusual
:10:50. > :10:51.but they are seeing an annual increase with a 30% rise
:10:52. > :11:04.in the number of drugs related Behind each of these statistics is a
:11:05. > :11:09.person and a family who are living with this loss. The dangers of
:11:10. > :11:14.drug-taking are clear to see. They have devastating effects on the
:11:15. > :11:19.individuals and their families and communities who have to deal with
:11:20. > :11:22.the negative behaviours like violence, anti-social behaviour, a
:11:23. > :11:24.facts on mental health and the ultimate price which is losing a
:11:25. > :11:26.loved one. In the wake of today's tragic news,
:11:27. > :11:28.public health officials want to remind those affected
:11:29. > :11:30.by drugs and alcohol that help is available,
:11:31. > :11:39.but they recognise If individuals continue to take
:11:40. > :11:44.drugs or other cohort, we appeal that they do so with a trusted
:11:45. > :11:45.friend who was not using who can seek medical support if that is
:11:46. > :11:47.required urgently. The battle against drugs
:11:48. > :11:49.occupies significant In a recent operation they seized
:11:50. > :11:52.nearly ?800,000 worth. But with more people now dying
:11:53. > :11:54.from what the police describe as the misuse of opioid drugs
:11:55. > :11:58.than on the roads, The family of Michaela McAreavey,
:11:59. > :12:07.who was murdered on honeymoon in Mauritius, has offered a reward
:12:08. > :12:13.of around ?44,000 for information which leads to the conviction
:12:14. > :12:16.of whoever killed her. The Tyrone woman was found strangled
:12:17. > :12:20.in a hotel room six years ago. At a news conference on the island,
:12:21. > :12:24.her husband and older brother made a direct appeal to the people
:12:25. > :12:40.of Mauritius This is day four of the visit to
:12:41. > :12:45.Mauritius by members of the McAree V Antarctic families. Yesterday they
:12:46. > :12:50.met politicians and police, today was about the people and the press
:12:51. > :12:58.-- the heart and McAree the families. Mauritius being Mauritius,
:12:59. > :13:03.John McAreavey had to go right vote. In his hand the words he had been
:13:04. > :13:09.preparing, and appealed to the people of the eyes and to remember
:13:10. > :13:14.what happened here six years ago. This is about Michaela. A
:13:15. > :13:24.27-year-old woman who travelled to this beautiful island for her
:13:25. > :13:34.honeymoon. Michaela had her whole life ahead of her. She had so much
:13:35. > :13:42.life to live, so much love to give. He then announced a reward. 2
:13:43. > :13:47.million version rupees, more than ?40,000, to anyone who comes forward
:13:48. > :13:51.with information which leads to the conviction of his wife's colours. --
:13:52. > :13:52.killers. If anyone can provide information
:13:53. > :13:54.that will subsequently be used and will lead to a successful
:13:55. > :13:57.conviction in court for the people responsible for Michaela's murder,
:13:58. > :14:13.then they are fully entitled Sitting beside him was Michaela's
:14:14. > :14:20.brother Mark. She had three brothers. Mark is the eldest. They
:14:21. > :14:25.are a close family and they all still find it difficult talking
:14:26. > :14:27.about Michaela's death but today Mark Harte had a message for the
:14:28. > :14:30.more Russian people. The reality is that there
:14:31. > :14:32.are killers walking around in your communities,
:14:33. > :14:35.in your villages, and in your towns. This could be your wife,
:14:36. > :14:58.your daughter, your sister, To try to get their message across
:14:59. > :15:03.they needed a filled her note from local media and they got it. What
:15:04. > :15:08.they don't know is whether this news conference will have done any good.
:15:09. > :15:16.They leave for home tomorrow. All they can do is wait. They note that
:15:17. > :15:19.the next 30 days are crucial. When it comes to rewards, people with new
:15:20. > :15:25.evidence normally come forward quickly or not at all.
:15:26. > :15:28.There are some significant changes to the tax and benefit system
:15:29. > :15:32.The biggest changes are for some new claimants of child tax credits.
:15:33. > :15:36.Our economics and business editor John Campbell joins me.
:15:37. > :15:49.They are effectively a means tested benefit for lower income households.
:15:50. > :15:54.They go to unemployed people with children for working people who may
:15:55. > :15:58.or may not have children, but most people think of them as a way for
:15:59. > :16:04.the government to top up the incomes of lower income households. There is
:16:05. > :16:06.the working tax credit and child tax credit, and what is changing is that
:16:07. > :16:15.child tax credit. It's about the number of children
:16:16. > :16:20.you have, so when you have your first child you are entitled to
:16:21. > :16:28.about ?300,000 and then for the next child about ?208,000. This week you
:16:29. > :16:40.only get tax credits for your first two children so there will only be
:16:41. > :16:47.tax credits for -- ?3000 and then for next child about ?2800. If you
:16:48. > :16:51.get a tax credit at the end of the week, that child is entitled to know
:16:52. > :16:57.tax cut reward so this is about making the system less generous for
:16:58. > :17:02.families but if you have three or more kids at the moment and our own
:17:03. > :17:04.tax credits, it will not make any difference to you, this is about new
:17:05. > :17:13.claims. This is a change in the threshold
:17:14. > :17:18.where you start paying tax, so at the moment you do not start a income
:17:19. > :17:27.tax until you are at ?11,000, that will go up to 11,500 pounds, then
:17:28. > :17:34.the higher income ticks in and that is going up, so it is better news
:17:35. > :17:35.overall for higher income households, less good news for lower
:17:36. > :17:36.income households. Looking ahead to the programme
:17:37. > :17:38.tomorrow, an exclusive story from our investigations reporter
:17:39. > :17:46.Kevin Magee. Tomorrow across ABC News we revealed
:17:47. > :17:52.the story of a Belfast man who confessed to the police in 1985 that
:17:53. > :17:57.he was a surreal child abuser but has never faced justice. We found
:17:58. > :17:59.him living here openly in Northern Canada.
:18:00. > :18:01.And we'll have that exclusive story from Kevin Magee on radio,
:18:02. > :18:04.on digital and here on BBC Newsline tomorrow at 6:30pm.
:18:05. > :18:07.Next, a very innovative recycling project in Belfast that turns
:18:08. > :18:12.the mattresses we sleep on into soft landings for show jumpers -
:18:13. > :18:19.800 mattresses a week are diverted away from landfill.
:18:20. > :18:21.Our agriculture and environment correspondent
:18:22. > :18:27.There's no sleeping on the job for the staff
:18:28. > :18:31.Every week they deal with 800 mattresses that
:18:32. > :18:40.They're broken down into their different bits and reused
:18:41. > :18:45.It includes equestrian businesses which buy felt stripped
:18:46. > :18:48.from the springs to cover the floors of its arenas, a soft
:18:49. > :19:05.The polyester is sent for further reprocessing and that material is
:19:06. > :19:10.turned into socks and fleeces. The foam is sent for further processing
:19:11. > :19:15.and turned into carbon underlay. The felt is used in a equestrian arenas
:19:16. > :19:21.and it's also used for acoustic damping on cars, and the steels
:19:22. > :19:23.springs are shredded and then sent to a local metal recycler where it
:19:24. > :19:25.is then melted down. It's diverting thousands of bulky
:19:26. > :19:28.mattresses from landfill, and providing employment for people
:19:29. > :19:43.with health issues - There's not much out there, so it's
:19:44. > :19:47.obvious I was going that way. It's obvious I will be excited to get in
:19:48. > :19:56.here. There isn't much out in the job market. It's estimated there
:19:57. > :20:01.were 215,000 of these mattresses in the UK landfills. They take up
:20:02. > :20:05.space, they can damage compaction equipment they can cause fires.
:20:06. > :20:07.Little wonder that mattress recycling has become a big thing in
:20:08. > :20:08.recent years. So far this year this project alone
:20:09. > :20:11.has diverted 13,000 mattresses away from our dumps,
:20:12. > :20:13.but there's plenty of We still only recycle
:20:14. > :20:21.one in every 100. Now sport, and Rory McIlroy has
:20:22. > :20:25.arrived in Augusta for the first Yes, and the big question
:20:26. > :20:34.is does history beckon Success at the Masters will fulfil
:20:35. > :20:40.a lifetime's dream of winning McIlroy will tee off around
:20:41. > :20:45.this time on Thursday alongside Spain's John Rahm
:20:46. > :20:49.and Japan's Hideto Tanihara as he goes in search
:20:50. > :21:04.of golf's ultimate prize. It's possibly the most picturesque
:21:05. > :21:09.sporting venue in the world. It's definitely the most exclusive. The
:21:10. > :21:16.Masters in Augusta is invitation only to the elite players in golf,
:21:17. > :21:21.past and present. Rory McIlroy arrives with a chance of achieving
:21:22. > :21:26.iconic coughing status. Only five players before him have managed to
:21:27. > :21:32.win the Grand Slam and the Americans fancy his chances. He has come out
:21:33. > :21:38.with fire, intensity and confidence, I know he's getting over that injury
:21:39. > :21:44.and you feel we haven't had him make that magical major run, he hasn't
:21:45. > :21:48.won any while in a major championships so he seems to be
:21:49. > :21:54.building. Michael Rory's biggest battle might be against the weather.
:21:55. > :22:01.Play has been suspended. Please evacuate. Yesterday they tornado
:22:02. > :22:08.warning meant players and fans had to be evacuated. More wind and rain
:22:09. > :22:13.is forecast for later this week. For Rory McIlroy and the star-studded
:22:14. > :22:20.field, there is an ?8 million prize fund an offer but it's not the money
:22:21. > :22:24.that matters to McIlroy. Having signed an extension to its
:22:25. > :22:30.sponsorship contract, he has plenty of that. It is the green jacket he
:22:31. > :22:35.craves and a place in coughing her story. -- loving history.
:22:36. > :22:38.And we'll have a special interview with Rory McIlroy
:22:39. > :22:41.Now, the Commonwealth Games will take place in Gold Coast,
:22:42. > :22:43.Australia, with the Opening Ceremony starting in exactly
:22:44. > :22:46.Nigel Ringland has been speaking to those making plans to be
:22:47. > :22:56.The Gold Coast will provide a spectacular setting for next year's
:22:57. > :23:01.Commonwealth Games. Northern Ireland hoped to send around 80 athletes and
:23:02. > :23:05.preparations are under way. We are ahead of where we were in previous
:23:06. > :23:11.years, delighted to be working with government bodies. Everyone behind
:23:12. > :23:15.this is working hard and the challenge is now for the athletes to
:23:16. > :23:22.get their selection times. One athlete hoping to make their mark is
:23:23. > :23:26.from Portaferry. She reached the Commonwealth final eight years ago
:23:27. > :23:31.and clinched a bronze medal for Ireland, and adding to that
:23:32. > :23:36.collection will be her fame. To bring that metal home would be
:23:37. > :23:41.fantastic, such a boost for the people in your community and the
:23:42. > :23:44.wider community, so it would be something special and that's always
:23:45. > :23:52.the same going after we championship. Boxing has provided
:23:53. > :23:57.many of Ireland's Oldham moments but with Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes
:23:58. > :24:00.in the professional ranks, there is a new generation coming through that
:24:01. > :24:08.has already tasted action at the youth games. In boxing we has a
:24:09. > :24:12.massive depth of talent. It would be unfair for me to pick you why
:24:13. > :24:19.potentially see that we have a successful team, tears and Bradley,
:24:20. > :24:27.Brett McGinty, all these boys are senior boxers and should be in the
:24:28. > :24:31.mix for gold. So they could not have a more aptly named city in which to
:24:32. > :24:37.be fulfilled and it's now only one year away.
:24:38. > :24:38.There will be fighting in the office to see who goes on that one.
:24:39. > :24:40.The Republic of Ireland women's football team
:24:41. > :24:44.They will pull out of next week's international against Slovakia
:24:45. > :24:46.in protest at the way they claim they are being treated
:24:47. > :24:50.The dispute is over several issues including players' loss of earnings
:24:51. > :24:53.The FAI, in response, have pointed out
:24:54. > :24:55.several attempts at mediation, but the game on Monday
:24:56. > :25:05.All options are open. We have done all we have to do and it's in the
:25:06. > :25:13.hands of the FAI. We don't want to have to delay it in anyway, so this
:25:14. > :25:18.is all preparation for the World Cup qualifiers, we want to prepare and
:25:19. > :25:19.we hope it can be resolved as quickly as possible and we can just
:25:20. > :25:21.get out there and play. When tributes from Brian O'Driscoll,
:25:22. > :25:24.Tomas O'Se, the Tioseacht, Enda Kenny - even Andy Murray's mum
:25:25. > :25:27.Judy is a fan - you know you're Colm Cooper, regarded
:25:28. > :25:31.by many as the best Gaelic footballer of all time,
:25:32. > :25:48.has announced his retirement. He's hanginmg up his boots
:25:49. > :25:50.with five all-Irelands, eight Allstars, nine
:25:51. > :25:58.Munster championships. Angie Phillips is next and I wonder
:25:59. > :26:06.if she has weather for the beach behind her. Yesterday we had clout,
:26:07. > :26:11.breeze and rain, things have settled down again today. The weather front
:26:12. > :26:14.yesterday headed our way across the south-east of England to the
:26:15. > :26:20.continent, we had closed and showers pushing in to the North West but in
:26:21. > :26:26.between we had this slice of clear sky and that is where we see
:26:27. > :26:31.Magilligan point, a panoramic view. Through the day it has become bright
:26:32. > :26:35.rather than sunny with that cloud, so a few bright intervals but as we
:26:36. > :26:40.go through the night the cloud will close in more and could become thick
:26:41. > :26:45.enough to produce some rain and drizzle, especially through the
:26:46. > :26:50.north and West because we have that cloud, it's a fairly mild night.
:26:51. > :26:54.Tomorrow probably will not be as bright as today, a cloudy day and
:26:55. > :27:00.still the threat of patches of drizzle on that north-westerly
:27:01. > :27:06.breeze and we will probably find the most prone areas will be across
:27:07. > :27:11.parts of Donegal, Ramallah, Karen, Londonderry and County Antrim, that
:27:12. > :27:18.there will be dry gaps and we will see that drizzle fizzling away, you
:27:19. > :27:25.might get the brighter glimpse but more cloud than sunshine and highs
:27:26. > :27:31.of 11 or 12 degrees. Tomorrow night the cloud may lower again, once
:27:32. > :27:36.again threatening patches of rain or drizzle, still a lot of dry weather
:27:37. > :27:43.and a mild night, so that takes us into Thursday. I cloudy start, rain
:27:44. > :27:46.and drizzle in the North and West, they fizzle away and come the
:27:47. > :27:51.afternoon the cloud will break up and we might see some sunny spells.
:27:52. > :27:56.High pressure remains in charge through the rest of the week, so
:27:57. > :28:04.that keeps things strike, often a lot of cloud but hopefully some
:28:05. > :28:06.bright spells as well. We will have updates at 8pm and 9pm.