Baby P’s evil mother Tracey Connelly WILL be freed from jail within WEEKS

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Dominic Raab today vowed to block the release of Baby P’s mother Tracey Connelly, after a Parole Board decided she was fit to be freed from prison.

The 40-year-old, who was jailed over the death of her 17-month-old son Peter, was today successful in her fourth bid for freedom and could be back on the streets within weeks.

Describing the case as ‘harrowing’, the Justice Secretary told the Commons he plans to appeal against the Parole Board decision. He was backed by Shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, who described Connelly’s release as ‘disturbing news’.

Connelly had been imprisoned indefinitely with a minimum term of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing her son’s death.

Peter, who was publicly known as Baby P, died in north London in August 2007 at the hands of his mother, her lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen.

He suffered more than 50 injuries, including a snapped spine and eight broken ribs, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over the final eight months of his life. 

Connelly was released in 2013 on a lifelong licence, but recalled to jail in 2015 after she breached its terms by selling nude photographs of herself on the internet.

She was subject to a specific length of term in prison, but had to wait until the Parole Board – which considers cases roughly every two years –  deemed her fit for release.

She had bids for freedom turned down in 2015, 2017, and 2019, when the board refused to release or move her to an open prison. In 2020, she lost another appeal. 

But today, more than seven years after she was recalled to jail, the board found she does not pose a risk to the public, and could therefore be free within weeks.  

In response, Mr Raab said this afternoon he will apply to the Parole Board asking it to reconsider the plans. 

Mr Raab was backed by Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed, who described the news as ‘disturbing’ and said he ‘fully supports’ efforts to seek a review.  

Since being recalled to prison, Connelly has taken part in a ‘very intensive’ treatment programme from the Ministry of Justice and the NHS over three years and is ‘now able to work openly and honestly with professionals’, a report added.

The Parole Board said it was satisfied Connelly is suitable for release after hearing she is now considered to be at ‘low risk of committing a further offence’ and that her probation officers and prison officials support the plan.

Mr Raab was represented throughout the review and his representative ‘confirmed that this recommendation was accepted’, the report said.

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, 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 will be monitored and she has been told she cannot go to certain places to ‘avoid contact with victims and to protect children’.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Tracey Connelly 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.’ 

The case was so ’emotive’ that parole bosses demanded more information on her psychological assessments before a decision was reached, a source told the Sun.

She would have faced another two years behind bars if the board rejected her bid. 

Peter, who was publicly known as Baby P, died in north London on August 3 2007 at the hands of his mother, her lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen.

He suffered more than 50 injuries, which included a snapped spine and eight broken ribs, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over the final eight months of his life.

Steven Barker was jailed in 2009 for a minimum of 32 years for torturing the 17-month-old to death and Owen received a six year jail sentence for allowing the toddler to die.  

Peter and three other children were sharing the four-bedroom house with their mother, her boyfriend and his brother when he died.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities for officials to save the toddler’s life had they reacted properly to warning signs. 

Three of the children, including Peter, were on Haringey’s Child Protection Register because of fears they were being neglected by the mother.

Connelly, who covered up the abuse of her son, was jailed in 2009 for a minimum of five years after admitting causing or allowing the death of her son Peter.

She was then freed on licence in 2013 but later recalled to prison in 2015 after it was found she had sent indecent images of herself to people obsessed with her notoriety.  

The Parole Board considered her case for a third time in November 2019, following previous reviews in 2015 and 2017, and refused to either release her or move her to an open prison.

In 2019, the convict launched a bid to be freed from prison so she could try to spend Christmas with her lover.

She became besotted with a 37-year-old insurance salesman named Paul and told fellow prisoners she want to move in with him in Reading.

The abuser said she believed she was ready to leave prison a ‘changed woman’.

Connelly insisted her relationship was genuine because she had known him for many years.

Today’s decision came as Mr Raab insisted the case for reform of the parole system is ‘clear and made out’. 

Setting out his review of the parole system, he said: ‘Our reforms will ensure that those offenders who present the highest risk to public safety are reviewed more rigorously with additional ministerial oversight.

‘Protecting the public is the Government’s top priority. The proposals in this review will enforce public safety.’

He added: ‘Following the review we have conducted and published today, I believe the case for reform is clear and made out.’

Mr Raab also said a ministerial check would be introduced in cases which involve ‘those who have committed the most serious crimes’.

He said: ‘I believe the focus in this critical decision-making has become adrift from its original moorings. So this Government will anchor Parole Board decision-making back to the cardinal principle of public protection.

‘When it comes to assessing the risk to victims and public safety, we will introduce a precautionary principle to reinforce public confidence in the system and in cases which involve those who have committed the most serious crimes, we will introduce a ministerial check on release decisions exercised by the secretary of state for justice.

‘The package of reforms published today will strengthen the focus on public protection at every stage.’

Outlining his plans further, Mr Raab said: ‘It is striking that as of last year only 5% of all Parole Board panel members come from a law enforcement background.’

He added: ‘But I do point to what I believe is a significant deficit. I believe it is wrong and that our reforms will ensure that those who we charge with making finely balanced assessments of future risk have greater first hand operational experience of protecting the public from serious offenders. 

‘So we will change this imbalance by mandating the Parole Board to recruit more members with operational or enforcement experience.’

Shadow justice secretary Mr Reed said: ‘It’s crucial that public protection is paramount and that victims are right at the heart of the criminal justice system. 

‘Currently too many victims feel their views are not taken sufficiently into account either in parole decisions or in sentencing and this leads directly to public safety concerns that must be taken more seriously.

‘Labour will put public safety at the core of our contract with the British people, sadly the same can’t be said of this Government.’

He added: ‘Labour wants victims to have a right to make a new personal statement saying how they would feel if the prisoner is released. 

‘We would like any assessment of the risk to the public to include the risk of re-traumatising their victim and prevent released prisoners from living near their victim if that’s against the victim’s wishes.’

Parole shake-up will give ministers power to BLOCK prison release of UK’s worst criminals

Ministers will get new powers to veto the release of Britain’s most heinous criminals, under plans unveiled today to reform the parole system.

And victims will be able to take part in Parole Board hearings for the first time.

Murderers, rapists, terrorists and violent criminals convicted of causing a child’s death will be forced to stay in jail until their release is signed off by ministers.

The plans will grant Justice Secretary Dominic Raab the final say on the release of about 660 offenders a year. Victims will get rights to attend Parole Board hearings in full and ask questions. They will also be entitled to receive more detailed information from the board’s officials.

The measures will shake up the way the board operates, tipping the balance away from criminals’ rights and more in favour of victims and protecting the public.

Parole Board officials will be told their ‘only priority’ will be making sure a prisoner poses no risk to the public.

And, in a victory for openness, parole hearings will also be opened to the Press for the first time, Mr Raab pledged.

If successful, the proposals could mark a turning point after decades of ‘progressive’ policies chipping away at the principles of law and order. The Parole Board’s critics claim it is packed with ‘do-gooders’ who are too sympathetic towards criminals ‘rights’.

Mr Raab said: ‘Keeping the public safe is government’s first duty, and the British people expect us to keep dangerous criminals behind bars for as long as necessary to protect them. I am not satisfied our approach is as robust as it needs to be.’

Dozens of killers, rapists and paedophiles released from prison have gone on to get second life sentences after committing another serious crime.

The board faced widespread criticism over its handling of the case of Black Cab rapist John Worboys – a serial sex offender convicted in 2009 for attacks on 12 women. A decision to release him was overturned after a legal challenge.

Last year the board allowed the release of Colin Pitchfork, who raped and murdered two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s. He was recalled to jail less than three months later after displaying ‘concerning behaviour’.