Baby P’s mum ‘will be freed in weeks’ after fourth parole bid
The mother of tortured Baby P will be freed from prison in a matter of weeks after her fourth parole request succeeded.
Tracey Connelly, 40, was jailed indefinitely with a minimum term of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing her son’s death.
The 17-month-old, whose name was revealed as Peter, suffered more than 50 inujries at the hands of Connelly’s paedophile partner Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen at their flat in Tottenham, north London.
His case sparked national outrage after it emerged he had been on a register of at-risk children and received 60 visits from Haringey Council’s social workers, medical professionals and police in the months before his death.
Connelly was released in 2013 on a lifelong licence but was locked up again two years later after breaching its terms by selling explicit photos of herself online.
She has since been refused release after parole hearings in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and is currently being held in maximum-security HMP Low Newton, County Durham.
The 40-year-old had a fourth parole hearing in October, and her application was accepted on Wednesday.
Successful parole applications typically see prisoners released up to three months later depending on their eligibility dates.
Connelly is said to have been willing to accept a number of conditions including wearing a tag, avoiding alcohol, and telling police about any relationships she forms after her release.
At her 2019 parole hearing she claimed she was a ‘changed woman’ and reportedly wanted to move in with her new lover in Reading.
The bid was rejected after parole officers found a plan to manage her release was ‘not robust enough’ and that she still posed ‘risks’.
Barker is currently 13 years into a minimum 32 year sentence for torturing Peter to death and raping a two-year-old girl.
He was refused parole last week after a hearing was told he had refused to engage in treatment to address his violence or sexual urges.
Owen received a six-year sentence for allowing the toddler to die and was released in 2014.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Tracey Connolly following an oral hearing.
‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
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