Parole hearing for the mother of Baby P set to begin in public

The mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse, is set to make a latest bid for freedom as her parole hearing begins in public.

Tracey Connelly 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 August 3 2007.

Known publicly as Baby P, he had suffered more than 50 injuries, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police officers and health professionals over eight months.

Connelly’s parole hearing will take place in prison with a video feed livestreamed to the International Dispute and Resolution Centre in London on Wednesday and Thursday.

She is not expected to be on camera throughout the proceedings.

This will be the first review since Connelly, now in her 40s, was recalled to prison for a second time in August last year for breaching her licence conditions.

Parole hearings are usually held in private, but a judge approved applications for Connelly’s review to be heard in public, concluding “there can be no doubt that there is a substantial public interest” in the case.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities for officials to save Baby Peter’s life had they reacted properly to warning signs.

Connelly had admitted the offence of causing or allowing the death of her son and was handed a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of five years.

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

The Parole Board received two applications for October’s review to be held in public, which described Connelly’s “landmark case” as “one of the most high-profile and devastating child protection failures in UK history” which “permanently altered the conversation around safeguarding”, according to Judge Peter Rook KC’s judgment.

It was argued that the public still does not have access to the “real details”, citing that previous decisions around parole and recall have been made in private and a public hearing would “provide crucial context to a case that remains deeply significant to the public”.

Connelly left prison in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release in March that year – 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.

This was despite the panel highlighting concerns over Connelly’s ability to manipulate and deceive, and hearing evidence of how she had become embroiled in prison romances and traded secret love letters with an inmate.

Then-justice secretary Dominic Raab appealed against the decision, but a judge rejected his bid to keep her behind bars.

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

Officials rejected three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019 for Connelly to be released.