Police evacuated three from home of Litvinenko terror cop before blast
EXCLUSIVE: Police evacuated three people from home of Litvinenko terror cop moments before he ‘blew himself up in gas explosion’ after they were called over ‘domestic incident’
- EXCLUSIVE: Malcolm Baker, 60, died after a fire tore through home in Exmoor
- The former Superintendent is suspected of killing himself at the big house
- Police had been attending a domestic incident when the explosion happened
- Officers had just evacuated three people from the property when blast went off
A former Scotland Yard counter-terror officer suspected of killing himself in an explosion at his home blew it up with police outside moments after they took out three people as they attended a ‘domestic incident’ there.
Retired Superintendent Malcolm Baker, 60, died earlier this month when a blaze destroyed his remote property on Exmoor.
MailOnline can disclose Avon and Somerset Police had already been at the scene after being called to the property, which he shared with wife Francesca Onody, 50, over the domestic.
Officers had already rescued three people from the remote house and took them to safety.
But as police were outside, the explosion suddenly went off, causing a huge fire inside. Mr Baker perished inside the property.
Their prior contact with him moments before the explosion has seen them refer it to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for potential investigation.
Malcolm Baker (pictured) died after an explosion took place at his home in Exmoor National Park at around 6pm on September 14
Avon and Somerset Police had already been at the scene after being called to the property
Police had been attending a domestic incident when the explosion happened, wrecking house
Officers had just evacuated three people from the property when blast went off, ruining home
The blast was heard almost a mile away from the house – which had no mains gas supply – destroying the upper floor and blowing off the roof.
Mr Baker is said to have cancelled his family’s house insurance and emptied bank accounts he held with his wife, before the explosion, according to The Sun.
Police last night said they believe there was no third party involvement in the blast – but Mr Baker’s estranged sister said she suspected foul play.
Phillipa Baker, 62, said: ‘Malcom wouldn’t end his own life.
‘Killing himself in an explosion is absolute nonsense, it wouldn’t happen.
‘I’m absolutely positive he wouldn’t take his own life, especially in that absolutely ghastly way.
Mr Baker’s home, Hiccombe House, in Brompton Regis, west Somerset, which was destroyed in the fire
Mr Baker was part of the team that probed the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko (pictured) in 2006
‘No he wouldn’t do that, it is absolutely odd.’
Former Met Det Chief Insp Mick Neville told The Sun the incident was ‘tragic’ but also seemed like a ‘wicked act of spite to his his partner and children’.
Mrs Baker, from Caterham, Surrey, said her brother ‘cut me off’ almost 20 years ago after a family dispute and said she hadn’t seen him since.
But she added: ‘My brother will have made enemies in his life…
‘He was a leader… he didn’t suffer fools lightly.’
Mr Baker assisted US authorities in response to the 9/11 atrocities in 2001 as well as the fatal poisoning of ex-KGB agent-turned Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, in London in 2006.
A UK public inquiry later concluded the poisoning was ‘probably approved’ by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Villagers in nearby Brompton Regis, West Somerset, believe the valve on a liquid propane gas bottle was deliberately opened to cause the blast.
DNA tests are being conducted on incinerated human remains found at the property, to confirm they are those of Mr Baker, who also worked on the 7/7 London tube bombings investigation in 2005.
The former police officer also worked on the 7/7 London tube bombings investigation in 2005
This week, a mobile major incident support unit remained at the location, down a dead-end track, where police community support officers were stationed monitoring traffic.
Neighbours said a team of up to 30 officers have been combing the site most days since the blast on September 14 – with neighbours initially also fearing the blast could be linked to the Russian state or Mr Baker’s policing background.
But Avon and Somerset Police detectives believe Mr Baker took his own life over domestic problems.
The force has referred itself to the police watchdog over officers’ ‘prior contact’ with the deceased.
Mr Baker and wife(corr) Francesca Onody, who rears rare breed pigs, are listed as being directors of a management consultancy which provides security and crisis management advice and counter-terrorism strategies.
But last month another of their companies was dissolved, while earlier this year Mr Baker resigned as a director from both a farming business he was involved in alongside his 50-year-old wife, as well as the business through which they sold their meat.
Miss Onody was not at the property, Hiccombe House, when it exploded at around 6pm a fortnight ago.
The couple, who married in 2004, are believed to have a teenage son and daughter. Mr Baker had another son from a previous relationship, according to his sister.
One nearby resident, Withiel Fox, 60, said: ‘There is no gas supply to that cottage so it didn’t happen by accident.
‘Because of his background there was a lot of speculation about what might have happened. He was unaccounted for after the explosion and there were concerns it could have been the Russians behind it.’
Mr Baker had been working on security for the 2012 London Olympics ahead of his retirement from the Metropolitan Police after almost 31 years in the force in October 2011.
But since relocating to Exmoor National Park he had struggled to fit in with country life, according to a neighbour, who claimed he had ‘fallen out with several local people’.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said the force believed the remains found belonged to ‘one of the occupants of the house’ and enquiries were being made on behalf of the coroner.
He added: ‘We can confirm we’re investigating this incident as an offence of arson with intent to endanger life, but at this stage we don’t believe there is any third party involvement and we are not seeking anyone else in connection with our enquiries.’
A spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct said: ‘We can confirm we have received a referral from Avon and Somerset Police about prior police contact relating to occupants at an address in Brompton Regis where a serious fire occurred on 14 September. We are presently assessing the referral to decide whether any investigation by the IOPC is required.’
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