Couple quizzed on care home deaths

Avon and Somerset Police previously confirmed it was looking into five "suspicious" deaths at Parkfields Residential Home in Butleigh, Somerset.

Registered nurse Rachel Baker, 46, and her husband Leigh, 50, a chef, who managed the care home for more than a decade, were arrested in December 2007 on suspicion of murdering five residents - four women and a man.

But a police spokeswoman confirmed the arrested couple were being investigated in connection with a dozen suspicious deaths.

The couple were initially interviewed following the death of 97-year-old Lucy Cox on New Year's Day 2007.

During the investigation, detectives decided to exhume the remains of three other former residents in order to carry out toxicology tests and establish whether they had been poisoned.

In December 2007, the Bakers were arrested on suspicion of murdering Mrs Cox, along with Nellie Pickford, 89, Marion Alder, 79, and Fred Green, 81. A fifth unidentified "suspicious" death was also confirmed.

Avon and Somerset Police have refused to give any further details - including names, ages and gender - for the seven additional suspicious deaths. But the deaths were all linked to the care home, a spokeswoman said.

On Monday, police confirmed that the Bakers' bail period had been extended until January 2009 while investigations continue.

Mr and Mrs Baker, who live in Glastonbury with their six-year-old daughter, are also suspected of theft and unlawful possession of controlled prescribed drugs and attempting to pervert the course of justice.