Raab’s rage as he loses bid to keep Baby P’s mum in jail
Judge rejects minister’s appeal – even though she broke prison rules
THE mother of Baby P will be set free within weeks after the Parole Board yesterday refused the Justice Secretary’s bid to block her release.
Dominic Raab reacted with anger, describing Tracey Connelly as ‘pure evil’, after the board announced a judge had rejected his attempt to stop her release.
Yesterday it emerged that the sexobsessed 40-year-old had recently deceived prison officers about a secret relationship with an inmate, to whom she sent love letters. Despite this, a parole judge ruled that she should still be released.
A member of Baby P’s family said last night Connelly would ‘never learn’, adding: ‘She should rot in prison.’
Connelly was jailed indefinitely in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her tortured 17month-old son Peter in a horrific case that shocked the nation. Her partner Steven Barker was convicted of murder, and his brother Jason Owen was found guilty of causing or allowing Peter’s death.
Connelly was released in 2013 but was recalled to prison less than two years later for selling naked photos of herself and breaching licence conditions by ‘developing intimate personal relationships’ online and inciting ‘inappropriate sexualised behaviour’ in others.
In March, the Parole Board announced she had been cleared for release after a panel concluded she posed a low risk of reoffending.
But yesterday it emerged that Connelly had formed a clandestine ‘intimate’ relationship with another prisoner known only as X whom she told: ‘(I am) crazy about you... I madly love you.’
When Connelly admitted the fling in June 2021, officials banned contact between the pair. Yet ten days later, Connelly tried to pass her lover a letter under the cell door in breach of prison rules.
Mr Raab said the board’s decision to release her was ‘irrational’ given evidence of ‘further deceptive behaviour’ in the letter, in which Connelly was also ‘rude’ and ‘dismissive’ of prison staff.
Lawyers for Mr Raab submitted: ‘The Secretary of State has serious concerns that the approach adopted by the Parole Board has subverted, and undermines, the statutory test for release, which focuses on whether there is a risk to the public, and not whether there is a risk to the public that can be mitigated by extensive licence conditions.’
But this was rejected as ‘unfair’ by Judge Jeremy Roberts, QC, who upheld the Parole Board’s original decision.
Mr Raab 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.’
Peter Connelly was found dead in a blood-splattered cot at his home in Tottenham, north London, in August 2007 after sustaining more than 50 injuries, including a snapped spine and eight broken ribs. The toddler had suffered a horrific catalogue of abuse despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police officers and health professionals over a period of eight months.
His twisted mother helped to disguise his injuries by smearing his face with chocolate, and watched porn in a drunken haze while her son was tortured.
The member of Baby P’s family said: ‘The trouble is, they’ve let her out before. She’s broken her bail and had to go back inside again. She’ll never learn.
‘She’ll probably be back in again in a couple of months so it doesn’t really bother me. Prison is the best place for her.’
Connelly’s licence conditions include living at a specified address, 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 also will be monitored.
‘She should rot in prison’