Man accused of sex slavery ‘too ill’ for court

A 57-year-old Craigavon man who is facing a litany of charges linked to sex slavery failed to show up in court today despite being in custody.
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Keith Baker, of Drumellan Mews, is charged with 15 sex offences against women, including one who is disabled.

The court heard that Baker, who is in custody, couldn’t be brought to Craigavon as he claimed he was too ill.

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Baker’s wife Caroline Bernadette Baker, (51) is also facing charges including falsely imprisoning a severely disabled woman between 2004 and 2012.

Police had requested via Craigavon Magistrates Court that Keith Baker be released into their custody for further questioning and he was due to appear at court this morning.

However District Judge Mervyn Bates heard Baker had not been brought from Maghaberry Prison as he was ill.

Last month, following a request by the Lurgan Mail, a judge lifted reporting restrictions allowing the pair to be identified for the first time since their cases came to court.

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Baker faces charges including rape, human trafficking, sexual assault, aiding and abetting rape, false imprisonment and voyeurism.

It is claimed one woman was held in squalid conditions and repeatedly sexually abused by Mr Baker, his wife and ‘a number unknown males’.

At a previous court when Mr Baker applied for bail, it was revealed that a malnourished woman had been repeatedly raped and held prisoner. She had gone missing from her home in 2004 and weighed just six stone after being kept in a sparse and unlit bedroom with no inside door handle.

The court ruled today (Wednesday) that Baker appear via video link at Craigavon Magistrates Court on March 28.