The tranquillity of a family home in Grimsby was shattered by an act of unspeakable brutality, as a twisted game of hide and seek culminated in murder. Clive Baker, 67, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years for the vicious killing of his 46-year-old niece.
Lincoln Crown Court heard the harrowing details of how Baker's visit to his niece's house on Walnut Drive turned into a nightmare. What began as a normal family interaction descended into horror when Baker suggested playing a 'grim game'. As his niece hid, he armed himself with two knives from the kitchen.
The court was told he then launched a savage and sustained attack, stabbing his vulnerable victim multiple times. The prosecution described it as a "brutal and frenzied assault" that showed "significant ferocity".
Following the murder, Baker calmly contacted his brother—the father of the victim—to coldly inform him of what he had done. He remained at the property until Humberside Police officers arrived to arrest him.
In a heart-wrenching impact statement, the victim's father expressed his utter devastation, stating the family has been "left with a life sentence of our own". He spoke of the profound grief of losing a daughter in such a violent manner at the hands of her own uncle.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Prentice of Humberside Police praised the bravery of the family throughout the investigation and court proceedings. She emphasised that “this was a horrific and calculated attack on a vulnerable woman in her own home, a place where she should have been safe.”
Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment, a verdict that brings a measure of justice but little comfort to a family forever broken by his depraved and cruel actions.
