Releasing Baby P’s monster mum in 2013 was the wrong call then and still is now
Baby P was just 17 months old when he was found dying in his cot in 2009.
He had at least 50 injuries, including a broken back, fractured shinbone and a missing fingernail.
His mother — Tracey Connelly — was jailed for a minimum of five years for causing or allowing her son to be tortured to death by her lover and his brother.
Yesterday, Connelly was given the green light to leave prison.
I want Sun readers to know that I will do all I can to change this.
And, that I am going to ask the Parole Board — who decided she is no longer a danger to the public — to think again.
Read more on Baby P
When they allowed her to be released in 2013, she was back behind bars for online sex allegations less than two years later.
Releasing her was the wrong call then and it still is now.
Decisions to free serious criminals like her, double child killer Colin Pitchfork and rapist John Worboys, undermine public confidence in the Parole Board and the whole criminal justice system.
No newspaper has done more than The Sun to highlight such cases, tell victims’ stories and seek justice. And I am convinced the time for Parole Board reform is now.
Most read in Opinion
The Board clears thousands of offenders for release every year. But roughly once a fortnight, one of them will go on to commit a further serious offence.
The problem is that, over the years, the test for release has moved away from simply asking if a criminal is a risk to the public, to an exercise that balances public safety with the rights of the offender.
Our approach isn’t as robust as it needs to be, especially when dealing with serious offenders. The changes I proposed yesterday to MPs will change this.
First, we will replace the current release test with one that makes clear that public protection comes first in the decision-making process.
Second, I want more ex-police officers, with their frontline operational experience with criminals to help the Parole Board make better decisions.
It is striking that, as of last year, only five percent of them came from law
enforcement.
Third, under our changes, decisions to release anyone convicted of murder, rape, terrorism, or causing or allowing the death of a child would need to be approved by a Justice minister.
As Justice Secretary, I would be able to refuse release if I believed it would pose a danger to the public.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
Finally, we plan to make victims have a stronger voice in the process, so they feel genuinely heard, not an afterthought in the system.
I’m determined to reform our Parole System so public safety is once again a priority above all else.
