UK

Baby P’s mother back behind bars

Baby P’s mother is back in prison after breaching her licence conditions.

Tracey Connelly was freed from jail in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release.

But she has now been recalled to prison in a move authorised by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Connelly was jailed 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.

Peter, who suffered more than 50 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken back, was known as Baby P during his mother’s Old Bailey trial.

The case sparked outrage as the child was on the at-risk register and received 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over eight months.

In March 2022, the Parole Board decided Connelly was suitable for release after hearing she was considered to be at “low risk of committing a further offence” and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan.

The board rejected an appeal against the decision by the then justice secretary Dominic Raab.

Three previous bids by Connelly for her release in 2015, 2017 and 2019 were rejected by the board.

She was released on licence in 2013 but recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions.

Floral tributes, photographs and toys were placed at the memorial to Baby P at Islington Crematorium on 2 December 2008
Image:
Flowers left in tribute to Baby P at a memorial at Islington Crematorium in 2008. Pic: PA

Connelly, who is now aged in her 40s, was given an indefinite prison sentence with a minimum of five years in 2009.

She will have to face the Parole Board again at a later date in order to be considered for re-release.

When she was freed from jail in 2022, Connelly was subject to restrictions on her movements, activities and who she contacted, and faced 20 extra licence conditions.

They included living at a specified address – initially a bail hostel – as well as being supervised by probation, wearing an electronic tag, adhering to a curfew and having to disclose her relationships.

Her use of the internet and a phone was monitored, and she was told she could not go to certain places to “avoid contact with victims and to protect children”.

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It is not clear which of her licence conditions Connelly breached.

A Prison and Probation Service spokeswoman said on Tuesday: “Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to recall them to prison if they break the rules.”

Her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were also imprisoned after being convicted in relation to Peter’s death.

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