British Police blunders allowed rapist to escape justice for 16 years

Wendell Baker’s victim never truly recovered from her ordeal and died more than a decade before he was finally convicted today after standing trial for a second time under changes to the double jeopardy rules.

He was acquitted of the rape in 1999 after a judge ruled that the Metropolitan Police had unlawfully retained a DNA sample from him that linked him to the assault.

This decision was overturned by the Law Lords the following year, and the 800-year-old double jeopardy law, which prevented defendants from being tried twice for the same crime, was modified in 2005.

However, when Scotland Yard detectives reinvestigated Baker’s attack with a view to putting him on trial again, they discovered that they had lost the case files.

It was only by obtaining copies of the documents from his original defence solicitors that they were able to bring a fresh prosecution.

Baker, now 56, broke into the home of 66-year-old Hazel Backwell in Stratford, east London, in January 1997.

Demanding money, he tied her up with electrical flex and beat her so viciously that he broke her ribs before raping her and locking her in a cupboard under the stairs.

Miss Backwell could have died if she had not been found 15 hours later by a friend who noticed that her milk was standing uncollected on her doorstep.

She died in 2002 but helped to secure his conviction by giving evidence from beyond the grave.

In a statement read to the court, she said: “I just thought finish it, end it, get out. I just didn't know way was going to happen next. I thought I was going to die.”

An Old Bailey jury unanimously found Baker guilty after deliberating for just over an hour.

Adjourning sentencing to Friday, Judge Peter Rook told him: "This is the most serious of cases and it is my duty to consider if a life sentence is appropriate in your case."

Original report here




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