Baby P's mum Tracey Connelly freed from prison after 13 years

7 July 2022, 18:21 | Updated: 7 July 2022, 20:09

The mother of Peter Connelly, also known as 'Baby P', has been released from prison 13 years after being jailed over his death.

Tracey Connelly has walked free from HMP Low Newton, Do Durham, and according to The Sun is being housed in a secret bail hotel.

The paper says she is subjected to strict licence conditions, and will be sent back to jail if she breaches them.

Her release has been confirmed by the Ministry of Justice.

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Deputy PM and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said he had "strongly opposed" Connelly's release.

"Tracey Connelly’s cruelty was pure evil, which is why I strongly opposed her release," he said on Thursday.

"The decision to let her out demonstrates why the Parole Board needs a fundamental overhaul, including a ministerial block, to protect the public and keep dangerous offenders off our streets."

The Parole Board announced its intention to free Connelly in March after it decided she was now suitable for release, having rejected three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2017.

The decision had been made in 2021 but was paused pending more reports and information.

The government challenged the announcement, but in May the Parole Board rejected it on the grounds the decision "was not irrational".

It said she was considered to be at "low risk of committing a further offence" and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan.

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Mr Raab condemned the decision at the time and said it was proof the Parole Board needed a "fundamental overhaul".

"Tracey Connelly's cruelty towards her son, baby Peter, was pure evil," he said.

"The decision to release her demonstrates why the parole board needs a fundamental overhaul - including a ministerial check for the most serious offenders - so that it serves and protects the public."

Connelly, who is now 40, was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son in August 2007.

She was released on licence in 2013 but recalled to prison in 2015 after breaching her parole conditions by "developing intimate personal relationships" online.

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Baby P died at his home in Tottenham, north London, on August 3 2007.

He had suffered more than 50 injuries at the hands of Connelly's paedophile partner Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen.

His injuries included fractured ribs and a broken back.

He had been on the at-risk register and received 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over eight months.

Robert Buckland says thought of Baby P mother freed fills him with horror