True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

I was in the middle of researching another true crime case when I stumbled across this shocking story in a newspaper article. I thought I would share it with you as it's a little known case which took place here in the UK not that long ago. 

Before I begin, I just wanted to let you know (if you don't know already) that I have recently posted a new video to my YouTube channel. I know a lot of you have been asking me for quite a while about podcasts and creating videos and I have had in my mind for quite a while that I wanted to do something with the channel.

I'm currently putting plans together and I will be sharing podcasts, audios and videos of cases that I have already covered here on my blog but also fresh new cases too. I will continue to post cases here every Sunday but you will have the option of whether you want to read the stories or listen to me talking about them. 

Obviously since my discovery of yet another YouTube channel ripping off my work (I talk about the whole situation here), I really wanted to leave my mark on YouTube with my content. I've been lucky enough that I have so many readers of my blog that I've been informed of times when my work has been stolen and read out word for word on certain YouTube channels. I have my own style of writing, talking and sayings that when I'm copied it stands out so much, I was annoyed at first but I suppose I should take it as a compliment in a way. These people who have to copy your content to the letter are not going to get very far and seeing the amount of views that I get on my posts compared to the views that they get on their videos, makes me feel so much better. 

You can tell who's serious about making true crime content and who's in it for the views and money. I want to be a true crime author. I want my books to be in the true crime section of the bookstores. I'm not interested in being a famous 'Influencer'. I take my work seriously. 

Anyway, please check out the video if you can, it would mean a lot to me if you did (a like & subscribing to the channel would be fabulous too if that's possible). Saying that line 'it would mean a lot to me if you did', reminds me of Matthew McConaughey's character in Dazed & Confused when he says ''It'd be a lot cooler of you did''. All of my readers are cool anyway but that just randomly popped into my head. 

I'll get on with this story but just a reminder that you can find all of my social media links here. I have to mention that too because lately it seems that if it's not my true crime content that's getting stolen, it's my pictures being used for fake accounts (and that's another story which I previously shared here - on a side note: I have had emails from girls who have said this post really helped them & I'm so glad to have something positive out of that situation) so I have to let people know which accounts I actually own so they don't get scammed. 

That's enough about me lol, let's get into this case....

So I stumbled across a newspaper article about this case and decided to do more research. There's not a whole lot of information about this online and a severe lack of pictures so I will tell you what I did manage to find out. 

Corinna and Michael Baines were a married couple from a place called Neston In Cheshire, England. The pair had been married for 38 years and seemed to have a good relationship according to friends and neighbours of the couple. They had a son and a daughter together and all seemed to be well with the family but like I always say in a lot of my previous posts, you never know what goes on behind closed doors with a relationship and with a family. 

Eyebrows may have been raised at the age gap between Corrina and Michael, she being just 59 and he was 81. Corrina had been her husband's carer. They'd had some trauma in the past when their son took his own life. It was a devastating shock to the whole family. Their son Craig had been troubled for quite a while and had spend some time in prison for an assault on a man he claimed was a child abuser. 

Shortly before he died, Craig tried to open up to his mother about the horrible sexual abuse that he endured but he could never bring himself to reveal the identity of the perpetrator. Corrina didn't push the issue because she knew how difficult it was for him to talk about it as it would be for anyone. She wanted to give him time to talk about it fully when he was ready but unfortunately even though Craig seemed to be getting better from what his family could see, he was struggling and couldn't go on anymore. 

For years, Corrina and the rest of the family struggled to come to terms with the loss of Craig and the unanswered questions. Corrina missed her son and it was very difficult for her to cope with. 

Craig was in his early 20s when he died, he had his whole life ahead of him and somebody out there had hurt him, caused him so much pain that he didn't want to live anymore, it was heartbreaking. Corrina and her daughter had a strong bond and she was able to see her daughter grow up and have a family of her own, Corrina couldn't have been more proud. 

Being 81 and having health issues, Michael mostly stayed at home and Corrina did all of the housework, cooking, shopping etc. Sometimes it would be very stressful and Michael would call her when she was out somewhere demanding to know where she was because he wanted something. It was hard work being a full time carer. To lighten the load, Corrina and her daughter would spend time together going shopping and having lunch. The women would catch-up and talk about whatever was on their minds and it really helped them both have a bit of a break from their everyday lives. 

One day in July of 2020, Corrina and her daughter were relaxing at a cafe when Michael phoned her demanding to know where she was. Corrina's daughter was growing tired of how her mother was being treated and offered her mother the chance to come back to her house for a little bit to relax so she wouldn't have to face Michael. 

At some point Corinna and her daughter started having a heart to heart about Craig and Michael when her daughter dropped a devastating bombshell. Corinna listened in horror as she heard her say that Michael had been sexually abusing her and her brother Craig for years when they were children and she was worried that Michael was going to try something with her children. 

Corinna was beyond anger and in her mind Michael had been the abuser that Craig had been trying to tell her about all those years ago before he took his own life. It made sense to her why he struggled so hard to reveal who the abuser was. Corinna was frantic and didn't know what to do, after further discussion with her daughter and other family members it was decided that they were going to arrange for Michael to take a lie detector test. It sounds crazy but I can imagine at that point Corinna being desperate to know the truth about the man she thought she knew and had been married to for 38 years. She also wanted to get to the bottom of what really happened to Craig. 

The situation must have been going over and over in her mind because she left her daughter's house that night and returned home. She paced the floor wondering what to do and the anger was eating her up inside. Michael was in bed sound asleep and when the clock struck just after midnight, Corinna was hell bent on revenge.

Going out to the garden she grabbed a bucket and went to the kitchen, She poured in as much boiling water ad she could carry and emptied in packets of sugar and headed to the bedroom. There before her was Michael, fast asleep. Without a word, she stood over him and poured the boiling liquid over him as he woke up in shock and screaming in pain. 

She threw the bucket down and walked out of the house, didn't bother to call for an ambulance. She went to a male neighbours house who lived 9 doors away and banged on the door. The man answered and could see she was in a bit of a state, she told him ''I think I've killed him''

The man got on the phone straight away and called for an ambulance and the police who rushed to the scene. When the cops and paramedics arrived they found Michael yelping in pain with his skin peeling off. Through the screams of agony he managed to tell the police ''I'm badly burned, I'm burned all over. She poured boiling water all over me. I just want to die''. 

Michael was rushed to a hospital and placed on a burns unit where he had several operations. He tried to cling onto life for a few weeks but passed away as a result of his horrific injuries. 

Corinna wouldn't plead guilty in the beginning and told the police a different version of events, she claimed that she had lost control and didn't know what she was doing. At her trial which lasted 5 days, the prosecution believed that she was influenced in her actions by the grief, loss and anger about what happened to her son and for the horrible news that she had just learned from her daughter. They believed that she wanted some sort of revenge and that the crime was planned due to the actions of filling the bucket with boiling water and adding sugar which is known to cause more severe damage to the skin. 

They also brought up the fact that Corinna's particular kettle took up to 13 minutes to boil so it was difficult for them to believe that it was a random moment of rage when there was some time that had to be spent putting everything together. Also, her action of not phoning for an ambulance and leaving Michael to carry on suffering was also taken into consideration when a verdict was being decided. 

Corinna was found guilty of her husband's murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 12 years. The judge expressed that another factor of tragedy in this case is that Corinna's actions had ruined any chance of a further investigation into the allegations that Michael was a child abuser. The answers to the questions that the rest of the family and Corinna herself had, would never be answered. 

One would ask why Corinna's daughter would lie about something as serious as that, especially as her own brother had been a victim and took his own life over it. I know we say innocent until proven guilty but going by this story I believe the daughter to be telling the truth. You can understand why Corinna came to the conclusion that Craig must have been talking about Michael. It's hard enough to talk about who your abuser is but when it's a close family member and in this case, father, it must have been incredibly difficult. 

So, what are your thoughts on this case? I know it's quite a sensitive one but I thought you would find it interesting as it is not a case which is well known. 

It's heartbreaking what happened with this family. When it comes to child abusers, I have no sympathy but I am sad for Craig and his sister. It's just a very difficult story.

RIP Craig.

Further Reading & Sources: 

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Mirror

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | BBC News

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Liverpool Echo

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Daily Mail

- Corinna Smith Baines | Court Documents

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post and hope you will join me next time for another true crime case x