A MYSTERY surrounding the death on Exmoor of a former counter-terrorism boss deepened this week when an inquest hearing was suddenly postponed.

Retired Metropolitan Police Superintendent Malcolm Baker, aged 60, was thought to have killed himself by starting a fire which destroyed his isolated house near Brompton Regis last year.

At the time of the incident last September police and other authorities gave no acknowledgement that anything had happened until almost a week later, as the Free Press prepared to publish a news report on it.

Police have since refused to name Mr Baker on the grounds that human remains found in the ashes of the property had not been identified.

Mr Baker, who was head of a counter-terrorism unit and gained explosives knowledge during his police service, was listed officially as ‘unaccounted for’.

An inquest hearing for Mr Baker was publicly listed this week by Somerset coroner Samantha Marsh and should have been held in Taunton on Tuesday.

However, the proceedings were postponed and will not now be held until some time next year, probably after April, because the coroner is fully booked until then.

No explanation was provided for the year’s delay in the investigation into the circumstances of Mr Baker’s death.

The Free Press understands ‘an interim death certificate’ had been issued for Mr Baker, which would allow an inquest to take place.

Mr Baker retired from the Metropolitan force in 2011 and moved to Hartford, just outside Brompton Regis, in 2012.

He had worked in a strategic and operational role supporting UK counter-terrorism policy and developing responses to threat, working with the Cabinet Office and police, military, and Government departments, including personal protection for dignitaries visiting the UK.

The incident in which Mr Baker is believed to have died saw Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue despatch 11 fire engines to the scene, while NHS ambulance crews, paramedics, several police vehicles, and an air ambulance also attended.

Yet, neighbours were left puzzled by the lack of official comment on the incident until the Free Press reported it.

One person said at the time: “It is all very strange as far as we are concerned because nobody is saying anything. There is a dearth of information.”