Man jailed for life for murder of partner who died 13 years after brutal attack

A man who murdered his partner by hitting her over the head with a hammer has been jailed for life over a decade after the frenzied attack.

Trevor Baker, 53, left ex-girlfriend Carolyn Kemp with an irreparable brain injury after he struck her in the head with a rubber mallet in Romford, Essex, in 2009.

Ms Kemp was left in a pool of blood with a gaping hole in her forehead for 24 hours before she was found by her worried family.

She died from her injuries in September 2022 after she suffered aspiration pneumonia, which she would have survived if not attacked by Baker.

Baker could not accept she had ended their relationship six months before he launched the ferocious attack that left her as a quadriplegic.

The couple had been together for nine years but, following their separation, Baker became depressed, drank heavily and became “fixated” with Ms Kemp, prosecutor Henrietta Paget KC said.

He confided in a neighbour that he was planning to give away the family pet, a Staffordshire bull terrier, and said of his ex-partner: “I have got to kill her, she’s got to go.”

During the attack, their son Callum, who was then four years old, heard a crashing sound and saw his father hitting his mother repeatedly over the head “as hard as possible”, the court was told.

Baker left with the children and used Ms Kemp’s car to drive to his mother’s house, with blood on the sleeve of his jumper.

He told his mother that he had hit Ms Kemp with a rubber mallet then called an ambulance and left the door open - but this never happened.

In an emotional statement in court, Callum Baker said: “I witnessed the assault on my mother by my father.” Afterwards, he said Baker had dragged him to the car “by the throat” and left his mother to die.

He said: “Without my family’s support I would not be the person you see here today. However, witnessing the attack left me with severe psychological scars I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

He said his father was a “danger to society” and expressed a hope he would not “see the light of day”.

Mitigating, Rudi Fortson KC said the defendant recognised that he had destroyed two families’ lives and that his children were “significantly affected” by his actions.

He said: “It is for those reasons that the defendant to his eternal credit pleaded guilty to attempted murder in 2010 and 15 years later pleaded guilty to murder.”

If you need non-judgemental information and support regarding domestic violence and abuse, women can call the Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247 for free at any time, day or night.

Men can call Men’s Advice Line on 0808 8010 327 (Monday to Friday 10am to 8pm), or visit the webchat (Wednesday 10am to 11.30am and 2.30pm to 4pm).