Thomas Baker

Thomas Baker was shot in the head and chest in broad daylight outside the Phoenix gym in Old Swan on the morning of Friday 27 January 2017 at about 8.10am. He was pronounced dead at 11.45am.

His post mortem stated that he died from gunshot wounds.

He had been shot as he was getting into his black BMW car.

Five men were arrested in connection with his murder but no charges were made.

On 5 September 2017 three men, aged 29, 29 and 32, were arrested on suspicion of murder. They were each taken away to separate police stations for questioning.

On 5 December 2017 a 39-year-old from West Derby and a 33-year-old from Everton were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, but were later released under investigation.

The Phoenix gym was on the site of the Stanley meat market in Old Swan.

The police said that they were trying to trace a silver VW Polo car that was seen outside the gym shortly before the murder and which they thought had been driven by the gunman and which was seen shortly after to turn right onto Prescot Road and head off in the direction of Liverpool city centre. It was said that the car had gone off along a number of roads including Balmoral Road, Molyneux Road and Queens Road and that it had been travelling at speed and might well have caused other motorists to take evasive action to avoid crashing into it.

The police said that the car had arrived at the meat market from Prescot Road and had left that way. It was noted that the shooting had taken place during the Friday morning rush-hour.

The silver VW Polo car was captured in CCTV footage and it was noted for having had its number plates obscured.

It was thought that the gunman had lain in wait for Thomas Baker in the silver VW Polo car which was parked up beside Thomas Baker's BMW car and that the shooting had been a targeted attack.

Thomas Baker had run a Sunbed firm called Tanerife Tanning in Everton and was known for have previously been acquitted on charges related to a £4m heroin smuggling plot in 2002.

The 2002 charge had related to his alleged involvement in a scheme to smuggle large consignments of heroin from Holland into the United Kingdom in a lorry load of frozen chips. Although he was cleared, it was noted that in 2007 that he had willingly agreed to an order at London's High Court to hand over £500,000 to the Government's Assets Recovery Agency after it was heard that he had thousands of pounds in additional income that he was unable to account for.

It was reported that the Assets Recovery Agency had initially issued a civil claim for more than £700,000 against him, arguing on the balance of probabilities, that his unexplained income was unlawfully obtained. Thomas Baker had initially argued that his extra income had come from working in his spare time as a builder and massive wins on horse-race betting. However, in 2007 he 'agreed by consent' for the Assets Recovery Agency to recover about £500,000 in money, goods and property from him to settle the matter. It was noted that the assets involved under the order had included five houses in Liverpool worth £280,000, £30,000 worth of jewellery, £120,000 of other property and about £50,000 in cash plus a Range Rover and the contents of four bank accounts.

It was noted that about three months after his murder that a 32-year-old man was attacked in Salisbury Street, Everton on the night of Wednesday 10 May 2017 at about 11.20pm and it was thought that it might have been carried out in response to the shooting. The attack had been carried out by four men and had resulted in the man that was targeted needing to go to hospital for treatment for leg wounds. A 39-year-old man was arrested soon after in relation to the attack on suspicion of Section 18 attempted wounding with intent following the attack.

The police investigation into Thomas Baker's murder had involved the Matrix Unit, a specialist police unit formed to deal with gun and gang crime.

Thomas Baker was known as Tommy Baker and was from Everton and was a father-of-two.