04/04/2017 BBC Newsline

This is BBC Newsline and these are the headlines

This man and his wife jailed for a horrific catalogue of abuse.

In my time in the police I have never come across a crime that is

quite so depraved and awful. Police in Belfast investigate

five sudden deaths The family of Michaela McAreavey

offer a reward in Mauritius I appeal to you, the Mirage and

people, the reality is that there are killers walking around in your

communities, in your villages and in your times.

Also to come on the programme, how many families will be affected

by big changes to the tax and benefit system?

Can Rory McIlroy put his name into the golfing record books by winning

the first major championship of the year, the Masters? Join me in

Augusta. And some parts prone to patchy

drizzle but the emphasis mostly First, a shocking story

involving a litany of abuse And I am warning you in

advance you will find Today we saw sentencing of a married

couple who sexually abused a woman with learning difficulties -

a woman who was virtually held prisoner in squalid conditions

in their Craigavon home. 61-year-old Keith Baker

from Drumellan Mews was today His 54-year-old wife Caroline Baker

was given 18 months in prison For legal reasons we cannot

show a picture of her. In a moment we'll hear

from the woman who alerted First our reporter, Gordon Adair,

was at the court, and again, I must warn that you may find

the details upsetting. A room without comfort which was

home to a life without dignity, love, hope or escape. For eight

years this tiny dirty room without bed sheets, curtain, light or carpet

was all the Bakers' victim sort of the world. The door handle had been

removed. This was effectively herself. A week before Christmas

2012, these officers acting on a request from social services rescued

her. As the investigation progressed,

it became clear to detectives this isn't just physical abuse,

there is a depraved sexual element. This woman was raped repeatedly

by Baker, who was aided It would also appear these depraved

sexual assaults were recorded and we can only presume

that was for The judge said it was difficult to

understand how the Bakers had so lost their moral compass as to treat

the woman the way they did, but he said sentencing them individually

was a difficult exercise. He described Keith Baker as the

Svengali figure whereas Caroline Baker was a pawn doing his wedding.

The Bakers lived in these two houses which had been knocked into one.

They are now occupied by people with no relation to the Bakers. There was

Keith, Caroline, therefore children and Mandy Highfield, who lived as

another wife with four children she and Keith had to gather. Finally

there was the vulnerable woman kept hidden from view. These photos show

the family's well-stocked fridge but for the woman there was hardly any

food. When rescued sea was so malnourished that almost all her

teeth had fallen out. It is almost impossible to estimate

or predict or imagine The abuse, the fear she was living

with must have reached a stage where this grotesque ill-treatment

and abuse became her normal life. I think in my time in the police

I have never come across a crime To keep this secret required great

control. A woman who knew the family that does not want to be identified

said Baker achieved this by running his household like a cult. He was

horrendously controlling. He used to stand outside the doctors because I

would have met there often. He would stand outside the doctors watching

what she said. He used to sit around the corner. It was revealed in court

that Keith and Caroline Baker first met in the 1970s when they were in

the Salvation Army, but as a prosecuting lawyer put it, Keith

Baker's life was dominated by his sexual wants, culminating in the

keeping of this woman as a virtual prisoner for eight years. The night

it is the Bakers who are prisoners as they begin lengthy sentences.

Today Lord Morrow, who raised the case with the Home Office three

years ago, repeated his call for an inquiry.

He referred to "too many discrepancies and unanswered

questions" and said sentencing closes the chapter,

The woman who initially alerted the police had four children

Mandy Highfield's been speaking to our reporter Gordon Adair.

He asked about her relationship with Baker.

He was OK for the first six, eight years, and then he started getting

violent. I was six months pregnant

when he punched me in the stomach and threw me down

the stairs and I lost my little boy. I was in labour for 14 hours,

he was stillborn and after that He started getting

aggressive from there. If we would go out he would be as

nice as pie and then when we were on our own he would hit me because I

was chatting to people, I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody or have

friends or even talk to my family. At some point a third woman came

into the picture. Tell us more about that. He would hit her and lock her

up. He would even put in the shower fully clothed and give her a

freezing cold shower. She didn't understand about not

going into anybody else's room, if she went into the children's

bedrooms and sort sweets she would take them, so he put in the shower

and gave her a cold shower something like that.

There was no light bulb and no lights, no carpet

on the floor, no curtains up against the window.

Shocking. Yeah, it was. It was only when I was in the police station

that I found out that Caroline was helping Keith to sexually assault

her. I didn't know anything about Caroline assaulting her. And how did

you feel? Disgusted because Caroline was like a sister to me and I

thought she couldn't do something like that but obviously she can, and

it just made me hate her. And hate him as well. How could they treat

somebody like that with disability like she had? It wasn't fair on her

and I just couldn't handle it, so I went to the police and told them,

and then the police came down and they took me out of the house and

talk to me and I told them everything, and then the social

worker and the police went upstairs and so the woman in the bedroom with

no light, no door handle on the inside. They took out. She didn't

want to go because she was scared and I said to her, you've got to go,

you cannot live like this any more, and she said OK, and then she left

with the police and the social worker. Mandy Highfield speaking to

Gordon Adair. The separate sudden deaths

of a 16-year-old girl and four men in the greater Belfast area

are being investigated As they await the results

of postmortem examinations, detectives already believe at least

three may be connected At this stage the police don't

think any single drug Police believe they could all be

related to drugs misuse. -- police believe several are drugs

related. Although the investigation is at an early stage. At the moment

we do not believe these deaths are linked and there is no emerging

trend of one specific drug. It appears to be a combination of

different drugs, this crowd medication, illegal drugs and

alcohol. In total since Friday five

sudden deaths have been Two men in their 20s

died in West Belfast - one in Riverdale Park North

and the other on the A 16-year-old girl died at

an address on Great Victoria Street, while another man died in a men's

hostel in Utility Street Last Friday a man died

in Verner Street, Police say such a high number

of deaths in just a few days is highly unusual

but they are seeing an annual increase with a 30% rise

in the number of drugs related Behind each of these statistics is a

person and a family who are living with this loss. The dangers of

drug-taking are clear to see. They have devastating effects on the

individuals and their families and communities who have to deal with

the negative behaviours like violence, anti-social behaviour, a

facts on mental health and the ultimate price which is losing a

loved one. In the wake of today's tragic news,

public health officials want to remind those affected

by drugs and alcohol that help is available,

but they recognise If individuals continue to take

drugs or other cohort, we appeal that they do so with a trusted

friend who was not using who can seek medical support if that is

required urgently. The battle against drugs

occupies significant In a recent operation they seized

nearly ?800,000 worth. But with more people now dying

from what the police describe as the misuse of opioid drugs

than on the roads, The family of Michaela McAreavey,

who was murdered on honeymoon in Mauritius, has offered a reward

of around ?44,000 for information which leads to the conviction

of whoever killed her. The Tyrone woman was found strangled

in a hotel room six years ago. At a news conference on the island,

her husband and older brother made a direct appeal to the people

of Mauritius This is day four of the visit to

Mauritius by members of the McAree V Antarctic families. Yesterday they

met politicians and police, today was about the people and the press

-- the heart and McAree the families. Mauritius being Mauritius,

John McAreavey had to go right vote. In his hand the words he had been

preparing, and appealed to the people of the eyes and to remember

what happened here six years ago. This is about Michaela. A

27-year-old woman who travelled to this beautiful island for her

honeymoon. Michaela had her whole life ahead of her. She had so much

life to live, so much love to give. He then announced a reward. 2

million version rupees, more than ?40,000, to anyone who comes forward

with information which leads to the conviction of his wife's colours. --

killers. If anyone can provide information

that will subsequently be used and will lead to a successful

conviction in court for the people responsible for Michaela's murder,

then they are fully entitled Sitting beside him was Michaela's

brother Mark. She had three brothers. Mark is the eldest. They

are a close family and they all still find it difficult talking

about Michaela's death but today Mark Harte had a message for the

more Russian people. The reality is that there

are killers walking around in your communities,

in your villages, and in your towns. This could be your wife,

your daughter, your sister, To try to get their message across

they needed a filled her note from local media and they got it. What

they don't know is whether this news conference will have done any good.

They leave for home tomorrow. All they can do is wait. They note that

the next 30 days are crucial. When it comes to rewards, people with new

evidence normally come forward quickly or not at all.

There are some significant changes to the tax and benefit system

The biggest changes are for some new claimants of child tax credits.

Our economics and business editor John Campbell joins me.

They are effectively a means tested benefit for lower income households.

They go to unemployed people with children for working people who may

or may not have children, but most people think of them as a way for

the government to top up the incomes of lower income households. There is

the working tax credit and child tax credit, and what is changing is that

child tax credit. It's about the number of children

you have, so when you have your first child you are entitled to

about ?300,000 and then for the next child about ?208,000. This week you

only get tax credits for your first two children so there will only be

tax credits for -- ?3000 and then for next child about ?2800. If you

get a tax credit at the end of the week, that child is entitled to know

tax cut reward so this is about making the system less generous for

families but if you have three or more kids at the moment and our own

tax credits, it will not make any difference to you, this is about new

claims. This is a change in the threshold

where you start paying tax, so at the moment you do not start a income

tax until you are at ?11,000, that will go up to 11,500 pounds, then

the higher income ticks in and that is going up, so it is better news

overall for higher income households, less good news for lower

income households. Looking ahead to the programme

tomorrow, an exclusive story from our investigations reporter

Kevin Magee. Tomorrow across ABC News we revealed

the story of a Belfast man who confessed to the police in 1985 that

he was a surreal child abuser but has never faced justice. We found

him living here openly in Northern Canada.

And we'll have that exclusive story from Kevin Magee on radio,

on digital and here on BBC Newsline tomorrow at 6:30pm.

Next, a very innovative recycling project in Belfast that turns

the mattresses we sleep on into soft landings for show jumpers -

800 mattresses a week are diverted away from landfill.

Our agriculture and environment correspondent

There's no sleeping on the job for the staff

Every week they deal with 800 mattresses that

They're broken down into their different bits and reused

It includes equestrian businesses which buy felt stripped

from the springs to cover the floors of its arenas, a soft

The polyester is sent for further reprocessing and that material is

turned into socks and fleeces. The foam is sent for further processing

and turned into carbon underlay. The felt is used in a equestrian arenas

and it's also used for acoustic damping on cars, and the steels

springs are shredded and then sent to a local metal recycler where it

is then melted down. It's diverting thousands of bulky

mattresses from landfill, and providing employment for people

with health issues - There's not much out there, so it's

obvious I was going that way. It's obvious I will be excited to get in

here. There isn't much out in the job market. It's estimated there

were 215,000 of these mattresses in the UK landfills. They take up

space, they can damage compaction equipment they can cause fires.

Little wonder that mattress recycling has become a big thing in

recent years. So far this year this project alone

has diverted 13,000 mattresses away from our dumps,

but there's plenty of We still only recycle

one in every 100. Now sport, and Rory McIlroy has

arrived in Augusta for the first Yes, and the big question

is does history beckon Success at the Masters will fulfil

a lifetime's dream of winning McIlroy will tee off around

this time on Thursday alongside Spain's John Rahm

and Japan's Hideto Tanihara as he goes in search

of golf's ultimate prize. It's possibly the most picturesque

sporting venue in the world. It's definitely the most exclusive. The

Masters in Augusta is invitation only to the elite players in golf,

past and present. Rory McIlroy arrives with a chance of achieving

iconic coughing status. Only five players before him have managed to

win the Grand Slam and the Americans fancy his chances. He has come out

with fire, intensity and confidence, I know he's getting over that injury

and you feel we haven't had him make that magical major run, he hasn't

won any while in a major championships so he seems to be

building. Michael Rory's biggest battle might be against the weather.

Play has been suspended. Please evacuate. Yesterday they tornado

warning meant players and fans had to be evacuated. More wind and rain

is forecast for later this week. For Rory McIlroy and the star-studded

field, there is an ?8 million prize fund an offer but it's not the money

that matters to McIlroy. Having signed an extension to its

sponsorship contract, he has plenty of that. It is the green jacket he

craves and a place in coughing her story. -- loving history.

And we'll have a special interview with Rory McIlroy

Now, the Commonwealth Games will take place in Gold Coast,

Australia, with the Opening Ceremony starting in exactly

Nigel Ringland has been speaking to those making plans to be

The Gold Coast will provide a spectacular setting for next year's

Commonwealth Games. Northern Ireland hoped to send around 80 athletes and

preparations are under way. We are ahead of where we were in previous

years, delighted to be working with government bodies. Everyone behind

this is working hard and the challenge is now for the athletes to

get their selection times. One athlete hoping to make their mark is

from Portaferry. She reached the Commonwealth final eight years ago

and clinched a bronze medal for Ireland, and adding to that

collection will be her fame. To bring that metal home would be

fantastic, such a boost for the people in your community and the

wider community, so it would be something special and that's always

the same going after we championship. Boxing has provided

many of Ireland's Oldham moments but with Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes

in the professional ranks, there is a new generation coming through that

has already tasted action at the youth games. In boxing we has a

massive depth of talent. It would be unfair for me to pick you why

potentially see that we have a successful team, tears and Bradley,

Brett McGinty, all these boys are senior boxers and should be in the

mix for gold. So they could not have a more aptly named city in which to

be fulfilled and it's now only one year away.

There will be fighting in the office to see who goes on that one.

The Republic of Ireland women's football team

They will pull out of next week's international against Slovakia

in protest at the way they claim they are being treated

The dispute is over several issues including players' loss of earnings

The FAI, in response, have pointed out

several attempts at mediation, but the game on Monday

All options are open. We have done all we have to do and it's in the

hands of the FAI. We don't want to have to delay it in anyway, so this

is all preparation for the World Cup qualifiers, we want to prepare and

we hope it can be resolved as quickly as possible and we can just

get out there and play. When tributes from Brian O'Driscoll,

Tomas O'Se, the Tioseacht, Enda Kenny - even Andy Murray's mum

Judy is a fan - you know you're Colm Cooper, regarded

by many as the best Gaelic footballer of all time,

has announced his retirement. He's hanginmg up his boots

with five all-Irelands, eight Allstars, nine

Munster championships. Angie Phillips is next and I wonder

if she has weather for the beach behind her. Yesterday we had clout,

breeze and rain, things have settled down again today. The weather front

yesterday headed our way across the south-east of England to the

continent, we had closed and showers pushing in to the North West but in

between we had this slice of clear sky and that is where we see

Magilligan point, a panoramic view. Through the day it has become bright

rather than sunny with that cloud, so a few bright intervals but as we

go through the night the cloud will close in more and could become thick

enough to produce some rain and drizzle, especially through the

north and West because we have that cloud, it's a fairly mild night.

Tomorrow probably will not be as bright as today, a cloudy day and

still the threat of patches of drizzle on that north-westerly

breeze and we will probably find the most prone areas will be across

parts of Donegal, Ramallah, Karen, Londonderry and County Antrim, that

there will be dry gaps and we will see that drizzle fizzling away, you

might get the brighter glimpse but more cloud than sunshine and highs

of 11 or 12 degrees. Tomorrow night the cloud may lower again, once

again threatening patches of rain or drizzle, still a lot of dry weather

and a mild night, so that takes us into Thursday. I cloudy start, rain

and drizzle in the North and West, they fizzle away and come the

afternoon the cloud will break up and we might see some sunny spells.

High pressure remains in charge through the rest of the week, so

that keeps things strike, often a lot of cloud but hopefully some

bright spells as well. We will have updates at 8pm and 9pm.