When will people learn that Baby P killer Tracey Connelly is evil and shouldn’t be let out, says relative
BABY P’s evil mum Tracey Connelly has been cleared for release from jail in a new soft justice scandal.
Deputy PM Dominic Raab blasted the Parole Board.
Writing in The Sun today, he insists: “I will do all I can to change this.”
Connelly, 40, was jailed over the 2007 death of son Peter in North London after months of sickening abuse.
She is expected to get a new surname and makeover to disguise her appearance.
Tracey Connelly, 40, no longer posed a risk despite her long history of manipulative behaviour and dishonesty, an expert panel found.
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But the decision — first disclosed by The Sun — triggered outrage.
A relative of 17-month-old baby Peter, who had suffered more than 50 injuries when he died in 2007 after months of abuse, said: “Connelly gets chance after chance.
"When will these people learn evil is evil? She’s fooled them before and fooled them again.”
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab vowed to appeal against the decision, telling Parliament yesterday: “In light of the Parole Board’s direction to release Tracey Connelly, I should inform the House that, having carefully read the decision, I’ve decided to apply to seek their reconsideration.”
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The decision emerged as Mr Raab set out his Parole Board system review in the Commons.
The crackdown follows years of rulings in favour of dangerous high-profile cons including double child murderer Colin Pitchfork and black cab rapist John Worboys.
Sources said the Connelly ruling had put the board on a collision course with the Secretary of State.
One Whitehall source said: “The Connelly case demonstrates exactly why the system needs reform.”
An NSPCC spokeswoman said: “It’s no surprise there are questions about the decision to release Baby Peter’s mother.”
And Tory MP Alberto Costa, who campaigned against Pitchfork's release, added: “The Justice Secretary has made the correct decision in seeking to appeal this.
“It highlights once again the problems with the Parole Board. Its number one objective must be public confidence in the system.”
Connelly’s parole bid was her fourth since being recalled to prison in February 2015.
She lost appeals in 2015, 2017 and 2019, with officials finding she still posed a threat to the public.
But yesterday she was given the green light to go free with 20 new licence conditions imposed.
They include wearing an electronic tag, a curfew and having her mobile and web use monitored.
Sources said Connelly had been held in a cushy unit while inside. And her progress on a programme for high-risk prisoners convinced experts she was now a low risk.
Connelly will spend the next few weeks in HMP Low Newton, Co Durham, as her release paperwork is finalised. And if Mr Raab’s appeal fails, she will then move to a bail hostel.
The fiend, whose weight once ballooned to more than 20st, will almost certainly be given a new surname and have a makeover to disguise her appearance. Connelly was given an indefinite term with a minimum of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of Peter in Tottenham, North London, in August 2007.
Connelly gets chance after chance. When will these people learn evil is evil? She’s fooled them before and fooled them again.
A relative of Baby P
He had suffered 50 injuries and months of abuse at the hands of his mum, stepdad Steven Barker and Barker’s brother, Jason Owen.
Blunders by social workers and medics meant warning signs were not acted on to save his life.
Sentencing Connelly at the Old Bailey, Judge Stephen Kramer told her she was “a manipulative and self-centred person, with a calculating side as well as a temper”.
Connelly was freed from jail in 2013 but was back behind bars just two years later. The Sun revealed she had breached her life licence conditions by trying to flog grubby nude photos of herself online.
But the Parole Board is now satisfied she is safe to go free.
In a summary of its decision, the board yesterday said that the same chairman who refused her 2019 appeal chaired her latest case.
Connelly appeared by video-link for the two-day hearing a fortnight ago, telling officials she hoped for release.
The panel heard evidence from prison and probation officers, a psychologist and bail hostel workers who would be responsible for her care in the community.
The report noted: “At the time of her offending risk factors had included Ms Connelly not managing certain aspects of her personality, entering into relationships quickly, prioritising those relationships above anything else, thinking about sex a lot and using sex to help her feel better about herself.
“The panel also considered risk factors to include Ms Connelly’s inability to control extreme emotions, her way of life, her decision- making, her low self-esteem, manipulative behaviour, dishonesty, a lack of victim empathy and her difficulties in coping with feelings of anger.” But she had since engaged in “very intensive treatment” for about three years in “a highly specialised environment”.
The Sun understands Connelly was placed on the psychologically informed planned environment unit at Low Newton in 2015. Places on the 20-bed unit, for cons with personality issues, cost about £3,000 a prisoner a year.
The Parole Board summary added: “Ms Connelly engaged properly with this work.” It said she had done well and there were now few concerns about her.
The panel concluded that Ms Connelly was suitable for release.
A Parole Board spokesman said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Tracey Connelly following an oral hearing.
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“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care.
“Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
Failed by system
By Tom Wells and Kate Ferguson
TINY Peter Connelly’s death in August 2007 shocked Britain.
And it saw council leaders, medics and social workers slammed over their appalling failures to prevent it.
Peter — initially named only as Baby P during the trial for legal reasons — was just 17 months old when he died.
Medical experts later revealed he had suffered at least 50 injuries over a period of eight months. But despite 60 visits from medics, police and social workers, the system failed him. His body was found in a blood-spattered cot in a grim house in Tottenham, where mum Tracey Connelly lived with her sadistic partner, Steven Barker, now 45.
Barker’s brother Jason Owen — who had changed his name years earlier — also lodged there. Owen, now 49, was ultimately jailed for six years for his part in Peter’s death.
He has been back in the community for some time and is thought to now live abroad.
Meanwhile, Barker got a minimum of 12 years.
He was also sentenced for the rape of a girl aged two.
Barker lost his latest parole bid in 2021 and will not get another chance to go free until next year at the earliest.
