Baby P’s mother Tracy Connelly freed from prison after 13 years
Restrictions on where she lives and her activities will be enforced after government lost battle to keep her behind bars
Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P who died after months of abuse, has been freed from jail, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
Connelly was jailed in 2009 after admitting to causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, in 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, 40, admitted the offence and was jailed with a minimum term of five years.
Her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen were convicted of the same offence.
She was released on licence in 2013 but recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions.
In March, the Parole Board decided Connelly was suitable for release – having rejected previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019 – after hearing she is now considered to be at “low risk of committing a further offence” and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan.
The government tried to reverse the decision to release her, but the Parole Board rejected the challenge.
It prompted justice secretary Dominic Raab to call for a “fundamental overhaul” of the board, saying: “Tracey Connelly’s cruelty was pure evil, which is why I strongly opposed her release.
“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.”
Connelly’s mother, Mary O’Connor, had said she wanted her daughter to stay in prison for the rest of her life for her part in the toddler’s death.
Peter was twice admitted to hospital and a medical report concluded he was the victim of systematic abuse, but he was never removed from his mother’s care.
Connelly will be subject to restrictions on her movements, activities and who she contacts, and faces 20 extra licence conditions.
They include living at a specified address – initially a bail hostel – 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 telephone will be monitored, and she has been told she cannot go to certain places to “avoid contact with victims and to protect children”.