04/04/2017 BBC Newsline

That's Newsnight with Kirstie coming up.

A couple have been jailed for a catalogue of abuse

against a vulnerable woman who was held as a virtual

prisoner in their Craigavon home for eight years.

During that time they continually sexually abused their victim,

who has severe learning difficulties.

The police officer in charge of the case said it was the most

61-year-old Keith Baker was sentenced to 15 years in jail

while his wife Caroline, who's 54, received a three-year

For legal reasons we cannot show a picture of her.

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 saw of the world.

A week before Christmas 2012, police officers acting on a request

Soon the full horror of what had been going on the to be revealed.

This isn't just physical abuse and physical maltreatment. There is a

depraved sexual element to this. This woman was raped

repeatedly by Baker, who was aided and abetted

by his wife. It would also appear these depraved

sexual assaults were recorded The judge said it was difficult

to understand how the Bakers as a couple had so lost their moral

compass as to treat the woman the way they did, but he said

sentencing them individually He described Keith Baker

as a Svengali figure whereas Caroline Baker was a pawn

doing his wedding. whereas Caroline Baker

was a pawn doing his bidding. 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,

their four children and Mandy Highfield,

who lived as effectively another wife with four children

she and Keith had together. Finally there was the vulnerable

woman kept hidden from view. These photos show the family's

well-stocked fridge but for When rescued she was

so malnourished that almost 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 but does

not want to be identified said Baker achieved this

by running Her words are spoken

by a member of our staff. He used to stand outside the doctors

because I would have He would stand outside the doctors

watching what she said. 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

and desires, which were to culminate in the keeping of this woman

as a virtual prisoner Tonight it is the Bakers

who are prisoners The woman who initially

alerted the police She has been speaking

to Gordon Adair. If we'd go out he would be

as nice as pie, and then when we were on our own he'd hit me

because I was chatting to people. I wasn't allowed to talk

to anybody or have friends At some point a third woman

came into the picture. There was no light bulb and no

lights, no carpet on the floor, 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. Disgusted because Caroline

was like a sister to me and I thought she couldn't do

something like that The police say five sudden deaths

in Belfast since Friday The deaths include a 16-year-old

girl and four men. At this stage the police don't

believe that any single drug was responsible for the deaths -

four of which happened yesterday. A reward of around ?44,000 has been

offered by the family of Michaela McAreavey

for information which leads to the conviction

of whoever killed her. At a news conference in Mauritius,

the Tyrone woman's husband and older brother made a direct appeal

to local people This is day four of the visit

to Mauritius by members of Yesterday they met

politicians and police, today was about the people

and the press. Mauritius being Mauritius,

John McAreavey had to go by boat. In his hand, the words

he had been preparing, an appeal to the people

of the island to remember 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 Mauritian rupees, more than ?40,000, to anyone

who comes forward with information which leads to the conviction

of his wife's 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 Harte. The McAreaveys are a close family

and they all still find it difficult talking about Michaela's death

but today Mark Harte had a message 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 full turnout from Mauritian media,

and they got it. What they don't know

is whether this news conference They know that the next

30 days are crucial. When it comes to rewards,

people with new evidence normally come forward quickly or they don't

come forward not at all. come forward quickly or they don't

come forward at all. Tomorrow we have an exclusive story

from our Tomorrow across BBC News we reveal

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

that he was a serial child abuser We found him living here

openly in Northern Canada. That story across BBC

News NI tomorrow. Now here's Angie Phillips

with the weather. A lot more settled today although we

have had increasing cloud through the second half of the day and it

continues tonight. Eventually that will threaten rain and drizzle in

the north and west but still a lot of dry weather and fairly mild. It

will not be as bright tomorrow, a lot of cloud from the word go and we

will still have that threat of patchy drizzle, especially across

parts of the north and west. This area of cloud extends into the

Northern half of Ireland across much of Scotland into England, eventually

done to the south-east later in the day. Brighter towards the South West

of England and the southern half of Ireland, also for parts of Scotland

but quite breezy here. Northern Ireland in the afternoon could see

the odd white interval in the east but still a lot of cloud, highs of

11 degrees and as we head towards the weekend, still plenty of dry

weather to come. Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am

during Breakfast here on BBC One.