Last-ditch bid fails to prevent release of rapist who attacked pensioner

Parole Board rejects Justice Secretary’s request over violent assault from which victim, 66, never recovered

‘Release was supported by the secretary of state’s officials during Mr Baker’s review’

THE Parole Board has rejected a lastditch bid to prevent the release of a violent rapist who attacked a pensioner in her own home before locking her in a cupboard.

Wendell Baker, 63, was jailed for life in 2013 for the 1997 attack on Hazel Backwell, a retired secretary, at home in east London.

Last month Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, intervened after it emerged that he had been cleared for release following completion of his recommended eight-year minimum tariff. But his release now looks inevitable after the Parole Board rejected the application for the matter to be reconsidered.

After raping Mrs Backwell and breaking her ribs, Baker locked her in a tiny cupboard under the stairs and she was only released 15 hours later when a neighbour noticed her milk was still on the step.

The 66-year-old spent three weeks in hospital but never fully recovered and died five years later in sheltered accommodation.

Baker was initially acquitted of the attack on a technicality, but was eventually convicted following a second trial after the double jeopardy laws were changed.

He was ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison, but that term was later reduced by two years. Last month, it was revealed that Baker had been cleared for release following a remote hearing by the Parole Board.

But it then emerged that Mrs Backwell’s son had not been informed of the decision and only learned of the planned release from the media.

The Ministry of Justice apologised for the blunder and asked the Parole Board to reconsider the case.

But a spokesman for the Parole Board said: “A senior judge of the Parole Board has rejected the application for reconsideration and found that the decision of the original panel was a rational one. As made clear in the reconsideration decision, release was supported by the secretary of state’s officials during Mr Baker’s review and the secretary of state had also made no objection to the parole hearing taking place remotely, until after the outcome of the hearing was known.”

Baker attacked Mrs Backwell after breaking into her home in Stratford in January 1997.

After tying her up with electrical cable, he demanded money before raping and then beating her.

Police had a DNA sample from the attacker but there was no match on the database at the time.

The following year, Baker was arrested on suspicion of burgling a house in Hackney in London, and, as was routine, a DNA sample was taken and stored.

He was subsequently acquitted of the burglary and under the legislation at the time the DNA sample should have been destroyed.

However, the sample was mistakenly retained and when another test was run it showed a clear match between Baker and the rapist. He was charged with the rape but acquitted on a technicality because the DNA sample was considered inadmissible.

When the double jeopardy law was repealed in 2005 it paved the way for him to be put on trial again, as the prosecution argued the DNA evidence was clear, compelling and incontrovertible.

Baker denied the attack, telling the court he had been framed by police, who he claimed had hounded him for years. He had been in and out of prison since the Seventies for offences including burglary, theft and assault.