Overview

• Malcolm Baker had stored about 125 litres of petrol in five canisters around his thatched cottage in Brompton Regis by September 2022.
• When officers forced entry to arrest him, they detected petrol seeping through the floorboards and evacuated the home moments before the blaze consumed the property.
• Baker’s wife told jurors she reported multiple incidents of domestic abuse and financial misconduct to Avon and Somerset Police during the summer of 2022.
• Pathologist Dr Deborah Cook concluded that the limited remains recovered prevented a definitive cause of death, leading the coroner to record it as unascertained.
• The jury continues to deliberate on how Baker’s erratic behaviour and the handling of inter-agency risk assessments contributed to the unexplained explosion.