Thug left his ex for dead

23 July 2010

A handyman who left his ex-girlfriend permanently brain damaged after battering her over the head with a rubber mallet has been jailed indefinitely.

Trevor Baker, 39, of Carnforth Gardens, Hornchurch, attacked 35-year-old Carolyn Kemp when she came to his home to pick up their children after warning a neighbour: "I've got to kill her. She's got to go."

In the days leading up to the incident Baker strangled the family dog and set fire to £3,000.

When Miss Kemp arrived he hit her over the head repeatedly and fled the house with the children, leaving her bleeding heavily in the hallway.

He returned to the property the same evening, but did not raise the alarm.

She was found 24 hours later by her brother and mother who broke down the front door after hearing her faint groans through the letter box.

Baker's blows had opened up a 4cm hole in Miss Kemp's forehead, caused fractures to the left side of the skull and massive brain injuries.

Eight months after the attack she remains in a rehabilitation centre, barely able to open her eyes and in a permanent vegetative state.

Doctors have warned her chances of improvement are slim and she is likely to remain severely paralysed for the rest of her life.

Fridge fixer Baker claims to have almost no memory of the incident but pleaded guilty to attempted murder because of the mass of evidence against him.

He has a history of violence, with convictions for actual bodily harm, threatened his former wife with a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun and half-strangled an ex girlfriend.

Last Thursday, July 15, at the Old Bailey he was sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) with a minimum term of eight years.

Judge Brian Barker QC, the Common Serjeant of London, told Baker: "Short of killing Carolyn your actions could not have been more devastating, they could not have had a more devastating effect on her and could not have had a more devastating effect on your children.

"The reality is she barely lives and she lives apparently without any real hope for the future."

The couple split up in May 2009 after eight years together and Miss Kemp moved out of the family home in Walmer Close, Romford, Essex, with the two children, aged four and five.

Baker retained contact with the children, seeing them every weekend and twice during the week.

The trigger for the attack appeared to be a falling out over custody of one of the boys on his birthday.

In early November last year Baker told a neighbour about the situation and warned: "I've got to kill her. She's got to go."

A couple of week's later he told the same neighbour "It's all happening Wednesday".

Baker had argued with Miss Kemp after refusing to allow her to have the children for a weekend so she could take them to the theatre and in response she said he could not see his son on his birthday.

He was also witnessed behaving erratically in the weeks leading up to the attack on Wednesday November 25 last year.

Baker throttled the family dog, which was found dead in the shed during a police search, and his mother discovered he had withdrawn £3,000 from a building society account and set light to it in his garden.

Miss Kemp was last seen alive on a neighbour's CCTV camera arriving in her at the former family home to collect the children from Baker.

Within 10 minutes the car was seen leaving Walmer Close.

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts said: "At that time Carolyn Kemp was on the floor in the hallway of the premises having been assaulted."

He said both children "would have been present in the address" at the time of the attack and were taken by Baker to his mother's home, where she noticed blood on his T-shirt.

"It's clear that Baker returned to the scene. He must have observed Miss Kemp in the position he left her, he must have been aware of her serious injuries and he did nothing to alert any of the authorities to her presence."

He then returned to his mother and confessed he had his Miss Kemp with a mallet, but said he had little recollection of what happened.

Miss Kemp's mother Sylvia raised the alarm with her son Christopher Kemp the following day when she failed to contact her daughter.

Mr Kemp kicked down the door and found his sister late on November 26, more than 24 hours after she had been assaulted.

The walls and floor of the hallway were covered in blood, she was barely conscious and unable to speak.

Baker, who was suffering from mild depression, was arrested at his mother's home and when asked what had happened told officers: "I don't know, I can't remember."

During a search they found his diary in which he wrote: "I hope you die horribly from cancer you c***."

Baker was on police bail at the time of the attack for an unprovoked assault on a stranger.

He has three other convictions for actual bodily harm, plus others for battery, using abusive or insulting words and behaviour, threats to kill and dishonesty.

Miss Kemp, born and raised in Elm Park, Hornchurch, was described as a 'very independent, outgoing woman' met Baker after returning from a stint living in New Zealand.

In a statement, her mother said Miss Kemp "lived and breathed for her children", adding: "The children were the most important things in Carolyn's life by a million miles.

"She was the perfect mum."

Judge Barker said: "Her mother says the family feel the life of their daughter is at an end and she is a prisoner in her own body.

"She points out there is a supportive family and what they remember is Carolyn's laughter at family gatherings.

"That is how she will be remembered.

"Nothing this court can say or do can in anyway make up for the loss of that personality and nothing we can say or do can turn the clock back.

"While her family and friends may get used to this situation, they will never get over it.

"I am also sure Carolyn will also be in their thought continually."

Baker will only be released from prison when a parole board decides he no longer poses a threat to the public.