Baby P’s mother Tracey Connelly to be released from prison

Baby P’s mother, who died after months of abuse, is expected to be released from prison after the Parole Board rejected the Government’s challenge against its verdict to release her. do for her.

Tracey Connelly could be released from prison within weeks after panel judges rejected Attorney General Dominic Raab’s offer to keep her behind bars longer.

But Mr Raab condemned the decision and said it was proof the Parole Board needed a “fundamental overhaul”.

Now 40, she was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, on 3 August 2007. .

Connelly admitted the offense and was sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison for public protection.

Her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen were convicted of the same charges.

Tracey Connelly gave birth to son Peter on March 1, 2006, and his biological father left a few months later.

In November, Connelly’s new boyfriend Steven Barker moved in.

Known publicly as Baby P, he has suffered more than 50 injuries, despite being on the risk list, and has received 60 visits from social workers, police and professionals medical for more than eight months.

During the eight-month period, Baby P’s injuries included broken back, broken ribs, shortness of breath in the head, broken shin bone, torn ear, severed fingertips, laceration of the skin of the nose and mouth, cuts neck and broken teeth. outside.

After the death of baby P, the autopsy results showed that he had swallowed a tooth after being punched.

A series of assessments identified missed opportunities for officials to save a toddler’s life if they responded correctly to the warning signs.

According to an amnesty report, at the time of the crime, Connelly, then 25 years old, was rapidly having sex, using sex to “help her feel better about herself” and was “uncontrollable” extreme touch”.

She was also described as “manipulative” and lacking in empathy.

Although she is currently in prison, the Parole Board’s decision means she could be released within weeks. First jailed in 2009, she was released before that.

She was released on parole in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015 for violating the conditions of parole.

This involved “developing intimate personal relationships” online and inciting another resident of her property to engage in “inappropriate sexual assault.”

In March, the Parole Board decided Connelly was suitable for release after hearing that she was now considered to be at “low risk of further recidivism” and that probation officers and prison officials were supportive. plan.

He’s still in prison. Barker received the longest sentence of the three for his role in Peter’s death, which was 12 years.

However, soon after, he was also sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 10 years for raping a two-year-old girl in a separate case.

Reacting to the decision, Mr Raab said Connelly’s actions were “absolutely evil” and added: “The decision to free her demonstrates why the pardon panel needs an overhaul. basic – including ministerial checks on the most serious offenders – so that it serves and protects the community.”

In March, the Parole Board decided she was fit to be released, having rejected three previous bids.

But last month, Mr Raab asked the board, which is independent of the government, to review the decision under a mechanism known as a review.

On Thursday, the Parole Board announced that the application had been denied and that the original decision was upheld.

According to the pardon ruling announced Thursday, previous assessments showed Connelly had attempted to conceal a year-long relationship with another inmate.

At the time of the 2022 hearing, justice officials found she had “clearly” been able to demonstrate progress in addressing her “dishonesty and manipulative tendencies” and had “actively and openly interact with professionals”.

A psychologist in prison said Connelly was “better prepared to be released” than before and believes professionals will be able to “detect the warning signs” while an official already knows her. For seven years she told of the “positive changes” she had observed in her “attitudes, behavior, and thoughts”.

Meanwhile, her prison warden said Connelly “understands the need to be open, honest and keep a low profile in the community,” the ruling said.

But in the face of the Government’s challenge, it warned that since the last review there had been “a follow-up incident that very clearly demonstrated a willingness to deceive professionals: the sending of emails in violation of the prison and the content of such communications, which evidence an attempt by [the respondent] to keep her relationship with another inmate in check so as not to spoil her prospects with the Parole Board. The fact that the letter was written after the Parole Board review began is very important. “

Parole documents say she disclosed her “intimate relationship with another inmate” to staff at the “earliest reasonable opportunity”, which was “in stark contrast to the times she failed to disclose the details of her incarceration.” such relationship before”.

A spokesman said in a statement: “Following a reconsideration request from the Secretary of State, a judge ruled that the independent Parole Board members’ release decision was not improper. reason, as stated in the application for reconsideration, and the original decision is upheld. . ”

Connelly will be subject to restrictions on her movements, activities and who she contacts, and face 20 additional license conditions.

They include living at a specified address, being under supervised release, wearing an electronic tag, complying with a curfew, and having to disclose her relationships.

Her Internet and phone use will be monitored, and she has been told she cannot go to certain locations to “avoid contact with the victim and to protect the children.”