Baby P: Mother Tracey Connelly approved for prison release

Peter Connelly died after months of abuse

The mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse, could be freed from prison after the Parole Board decided she should be released.

Tracey Connelly was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 after admitting causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, in 2007.

Known publicly as Baby P, he had suffered more than 50 injuries.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said he would ask the board to reconsider.

He told the House of Commons: "In light of the Parole Board's direction to release Tracey Connelly, I should inform the House that having carefully read the decision, I have decided to apply to the Parole Board to seek their reconsideration."

He made the announcement as he told MPs about a "root and branch" review of the parole system.

Recalled to prison

This was Connelly's fourth review by the Parole Board since she was jailed for a minimum of five years in 2009. The decision was meant to be made last year but had been delayed for more reports and information.

Connelly was let out on licence in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions.

Tracey Connelly admitted causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter, known as Baby P

The Parole Board considered her case for a third time in 2019 following previous reviews in 2015 and 2017, and refused to either release her or move her to an open prison.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: "We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Tracey Connelly following an oral hearing.

"Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

"Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."

Boyfriend and lodger

Peter Connelly died on 3 August 2007 at the hands of his mother as well as her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and their lodger Jason Owen, who was Barker's brother.

Barker was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years for raping a two-year-old girl and given a 12-year term to run concurrently over his role in Baby Peter's death.

Owen got an indefinite sentence with a minimum term of three years, later increased to a fixed six-year term.

Peter suffered more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over the final eight months of his life.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities when officials could have saved the toddler's life if they had acted properly on the warning signs.

Who is Tracey Connelly?

Tracey Connelly first came into contact with social services during her own childhood. She was brought up in Islington, north London, by a mother with drink and drug problems.

As a teenager she was sent to boarding school where she gained GCSEs including English and Information Technology (IT). Aged 16, she moved in with Peter's father who was 17 years older than her, after lying about her age. The couple later married.

But when Peter was born, the relationship was all but over and by the time he was three months old, Connelly had a new boyfriend, Steven Barker. Unknown to social services, Barker secretly moved into her home in Tottenham. She repeatedly told the authorities there were no men living in the house.

The picture painted of Connelly in court was of a woman who was at best uninterested in her child.

The Old Bailey heard how she rarely got out of bed before lunchtime and when Peter was found dead at 11:30 GMT, she was still asleep.

Her home was described as disgusting. When police searched it, they found dog mess and human faeces on the floor and rat holes burrowed into the walls.

• Timeline of Baby P case

• Baby P 'failed by all agencies'

• Baby Peter: Trio who caused his death

Connelly admitted causing her child's death, and prosecutors said she "sacrificed" him for her boyfriend.

In fact, she gave evidence to save Barker from a murder conviction, telling the jury he had been a good father to her son.

Before sentencing, she wrote to the judge to apologise for the way she had treated her son.

"I have lost all I hold dear to me, now every day of my life is full of guilt and trying to come to terms with my failure as a mother," she said.

"I punish myself on a daily basis and there is not a day that goes by where I don't cry at some point."

But Judge Stephen Kramer told her she was "manipulative and self-centred" and said he did not accept her claim she did not know what was happening to her son.

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