The mum of Baby P, who died after being subjected to months of horrific abuse, could be free again in months after being granted a new parole hearing.
Tracey Connelly was sent back to prison in September after breaching her licence conditions, in a move authorised by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
She 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 August 3, 2007.
Peter, who suffered more than 50 injuries including fractured ribs and a broken back, was known only as Baby P during Connelly’s Old Bailey trial.
The case sparked outrage as Peter was on the at-risk register and received 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over the final eight months of his life.
Connelly had previously been released on licence in 2013 but recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions.
She left prison in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release in March that year before being recalled for a second time.
A Parole Board spokesperson said: ‘It’s been directed to an oral hearing now but no hearing date has been set yet.’
In the latest review, the Parole Board decided Connelly was suitable for release – having rejected three previous bids – 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.
After her latest release, Connelly had been subject to restrictions on her movements, activities and who she contacted, as well as 20 extra licence conditions.
They included living at a specified address 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 also monitored, and she was also told she could not go to certain places to ‘avoid contact with victims and to protect children’.
Peter’s stepdad, Steven Barker, lost his latest parole bid to be freed in October.
Barker was jailed for 12 years in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly in Tottenham, north London, in 2007.
He was also handed a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum term of 10 years after being convicted of raping a two-year-old girl at a separate trial.
In its decision, the Parole Board said: ‘After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.
‘Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that Steven Barker should be transferred to an open prison.
‘Given that key areas of risk remain to be addressed, the panel considered that he was appropriately located in a closed prison.’
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