Baby P’s evil mother sent back to prison over secret fling with man she met online
The mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse, was recalled to prison last year after she started a relationship with a man she met online without telling officials supervising her, a parole hearing has been told.
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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.
This is her 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.
Her parole hearing, livestreamed by video feed on Wednesday, heard the situation “closely mirrored” that of her first recall and when she was in custody following her return to prison, when she also developed other intimate relationships.
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The hearing was told by her prison offender manager (POM) that Connelly had deleted material from her phone to avoid officials finding out about her relationship, which led to her second recall.
Panel chairwoman Sally Allbeury said: “The 2013 panel considered there to be a major risk in the context of Ms Connelly developing an intimate relationship where she prioritises a partner’s needs and her own needs over those of children. Subsequent panels have had the same concerns.”
Connelly had failed to disclose to social services that others were living in the house after her partner and his brother moved into the home, and a Parole Board hearing in 2013 said she had been keen to preserve her intimate relationships at all costs.
For a long time known publicly only as Baby P, Peter 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.
Giving evidence to the hearing on Wednesday, her POM was asked why Connelly did not disclose the most recent relationship, which she replied: “From what we’ve discussed there was fear of being judged.”
Asked about progress she has made on understanding why Connelly keeps getting into the same patterns of behaviour, referring to unhealthy relationships, the official said: “Yeah… how she views herself. It’s very difficult for her in the community. She had this relationship and it made her feel nice and she didn’t want to lose that.”
The panel chairwoman also said Connelly is “perfectly entitled” to get involved in any kind of relationship she wants as long as she tells people about it, and asked what is stopping her from disclosing them.
The POM said: “We all understand what she got from… that relationship is making her feel good about herself.
“If she then disclosed at that point either probation will say you can’t have the relationship… or we need to disclose to him, which leads to a fear of ‘once he knows who I am he won’t want me’.”
The prison official recommended Connelly for re-release with a management plan.
They said based on discussions with Connelly, she has got an awareness of what an unhealthy relationship looks like and what the warning signs might be.
Asked if Connelly believes she would be a future risk to a child, the POM added she is “very aware” of risk assessments and has never sought to minimise that in discussions.
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 then boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were convicted of the same crime.
Earlier in the hearing, the chairwoman said the panel has heard “extremely moving” victim statements from the child’s loved ones.
“There can be no doubt that Peter’s death has caused lifelong harm to those who loved him,” Ms Allbeury said.
Panel members for Connelly’s review will assess her risk in whether to release her from prison or not, or recommend she is transferred to open prison conditions.