The SNP ’s longest serving MP has quit the front bench and taken a swipe at his party’s new Westminster leader.
19.11.2022 - 07:57 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A pensioner who led a charity set up to transform a famous Scottish island has been jailed for sex attacks on two young girls.
Christopher Baker served as the director and secretary of the Mull and Iona Community Trust between 1998 and 2019. But he was jailed at Dumbarton Sheriff Court yesterday for “abusing a position of trust, responsibility and power” to “physically, sexually, mentally and emotionally” abuse two youngsters between 1986 and 1996.
The 77-year-old was jailed for two years and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years, after being convicted following a jury trial in September. Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Baker his victims “were terrified of you and of what might happen next.”
He added: “This was traumatic, life changing and there’s possible lifelong consequences.” He said the jail term would “reflect society’s displeasure and disgust” at his crimes, and jailed him for two years
Baker, who moved to Mull from the south of England in 1972, began to abuse the first girl when she was just two, and the second from the age of four. The abuse lasted for a decade, stopping when the younger girl reached the age of 12.
Baker denied he had done anything wrong, forcing the girls, who are now adults, to give evidence against him. He repeatedly abused the first girl between 1986 and 1996, at the Western Isles Hotel, in the burgh of Tobermory, and a country house in the village of Dervaig, both on the Isle of Mull, and a hotel on the Isle of Iona.
He repeatedly touched her inappropriately, but was cleared of claims that, on two different occasions, he got an unknown man to take her away and perform sex acts with her. He regularly abused the second girl between 1986 and 1994, at an address in Dervaig, tickling her
The SNP ’s longest serving MP has quit the front bench and taken a swipe at his party’s new Westminster leader.
A young Scots actor has opened up on the challenges he faced while filming Matilda The Musical - most of which was done during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
Tributes have been paid to a “lovely” Scots man who died in a shooting at a bar on the Caribbean island of St Lucia which left another British man injured.
A Scots mum couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted a ‘ghost plane from the war’ in a photograph taken of the night sky.
Tributes are pouring in for an award-winning search and rescue dog that has sadly passed away. Thirteen-year-old springer spaniel Diesel, who works for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, has spent time rescuing people after earthquakes in New Zealand and Nepal.
The story of a Scots mum who was struggling to pay her £17K energy bill to keep disabled daughter alive 'absolutely destroyed' actress Kate Winslet.
A search operation has been launched to trace a missing pensioner who 'may be disorientated'.
A couple who died in a horror smash on the A9 in Caithness have been named locally.
Figures shared by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that in February there were 22 million people across the UK claiming at least one benefit. That number includes nearly 12.5 million older people now in receipt of State Pension payments, a contributory benefit only available to those of retirement age with at least 10 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions.
Cops have launched an desperate appeal in an effort to trace a pensioner who vanished while walking his dogs this morning.
Scots could be paid to turn off their power as part of an emergency blackout plan set to be brought out tomorrow.
Two pensioners have died after a horror crash in the Scottish Borders.
An artist who forced a girl to kill her pet gerbil with an axe has been jailed over a horrific catalogue of sexual, physical and mental abuse. Chris Maginn, a sculptor who also spent years working on community projects, tormented children and animals. A court heard he kicked pet cats, threw a kitten at a door and drove nails into a goat's head.
A Scots pensioner has been left shaken after being pushed to the ground before being robbed by a female thug in Perth. Police were called to North Methven Street on Saturday, 19 November, at around 4.30 pm to reports that the 68-year-old man had been attacked.
A Scots teacher has been left unable to read books after a crippling long covid battle. Melanie More, 28, struggles with a variety of cognitive and physical issues - leaving her 90 per cent housebound.
A Scottish vet who was reported missing on Friday from the Borders has been remembered as "the sweetest person", after a body was found during the search for her.
A Scots pensioner has died in a single-vehicle road crash on the M4 in South Wales.
People in Scotland can no longer make a new claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) as it has been replaced by Adult Disability Payment (ADP), a similar but devolved benefit only available to people living north of the border. The new benefit is for adults over 16 and under State Pension age living with a disability, long-term illness or a physical or mental health condition.
A young Scots soldier tragically died from a head injury after being shot through his helmet during a live-fire training exercise in Northumberland.