Baby P mum's 'depraved' life - 'sick images, child killer pal' and parole bid

Tracey Connelly was jailed for allowing her son Peter, also known as Baby P, to be tortured to death by her abusive boyfriend and his brother. As she fails in her latest bid for freedom, the Mirror takes a look at what has happened to her in the years since...

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In August 2007, a tragic scene unfolded as paramedics discovered a 17-month-old boy in his blood-stained cot. The poor boy, known as Baby P, was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead.

It was then revealed that the tot had endured months of horrific abuse at the hands of his own mother, her partner and his brother, all living together in Tottenham, London.

Tracey Connelly allowed her toddler son Peter to be subjected to brutal torture by her boyfriend, leading to his death. An inquiry found that he had suffered over 50 injuries and had been visited by authorities 60 times in the eight months prior to his death.

His appalling injuries included a broken back, fractured shinbone, head damage and blackened fingers and toes from cigarette burns.

While her partner Steven Barker was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years for killing the tot, his brother Jason Owen received a six-year term for allowing him to die. Connolly was convicted of causing or allowing the death of her son and was imprisoned in 2009.

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She was released from prison in July 2022 but was recalled to prison for a second time in August last year for breaching her licence conditions. Today, she failed at a fresh bid for freedom as her parole application was denied.

Here, The Mirror delves into her life behind bars...

Christmas ban from daughters

Connolly faced numerous problems when she re-entered public life in 2022, and reportedly became "too scared" to venture outside her hostel following a series of heated confrontations with local residents who recognised her.

It wasn't only her neighbours causing issues, as Connelly allegedly attempted to 'build bridges' with her two adult daughters but has been completely ignored by them.

Her daughters were placed into foster care following Connelly's imprisonment and have since rejected her invitation to 'spend Christmas as a family'.

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Despite the 43 year old sending numerous letters and attempting to telephone her children, her daughters turned down all her approaches, a source told the Daily Star in 2022.

"Tracey is a manipulative person and always had it in her head that her children would forgive her," they said. "She thought she could get out of prison and talk them around and convince them that she is a changed person, but they don't want to know. She wanted a new identity but that didn't happen and so now she is looking for any links she can make."

Cashing in on her notoriety

Numerous people were taken aback when Connelly's parole application was approved in 2022 considering it was her fourth attempt since being sent back to prison in 2015.

She was initially freed on licence in 2013 but was returned to custody merely two years later for violating her parole terms.

She had purportedly been attempting to sell pornographic photographs of herself to twisted male admirers. "Authorities believe she was uploading images of herself and trying to flog them – possibly to sick perverts getting a kick out of her notoriety," a source revealed to The Sun on Sunday. "It doesn't get any more depraved than this."

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She was finally released from prison in 2022 with over 20 licence conditions which included residing at a specified address, wearing an electronic tag, adhering to a curfew and having to disclose her relationships. Her use of the internet and phone was monitored, and she was told she cannot go to certain places to "avoid contact with victims and to protect children".

A few months after her release in April 2023, media reports suggested she had made a new friend at her halfway house – another monster mum who smothered her three year old daughter.

Friendship with Helen Caudwell

In 2010, Helen Caudwell from Cheadle Heath in Greater Manchester was sent to prison for suffocating her daughter Bethany with a Piglet pyjama case before attempting to take her own life. She was ordered to serve a minimum of eight years for killing Bethany.

The pair were both housed at the same hostel in the north of England where staff advised residents to be kind to Connolly, fearing she could face bullying.

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A source told the Mirror: "Tracey and Helen are mates... they're always talking to each other. Tracey very rarely leaves the building. A couple of girls have been warned not to bully her. They're told not to judge each other's crimes. They hate what she did but they just have to live with it. If they say anything, they're threatened with being recalled to prison.

"There are normal girls in there along with child killers. They just have to accept it. If Tracey does go out, she wears a mask or puts her hood up. She's on a tag. But she just spends most of her time lounging around."

What happened to Baby P's stepdad and uncle?

Meanwhile, Baby P's stepdad was denied parole in October 2022 after being jailed for causing the tragic tot's death.

Steven Barker has so far served 13 years in prison in relation to the toddler's death and for raping a two year old girl.

He has been refused parole four times since 2017.

Barker's brother Jason Owen, 48, was given a six-year custodial sentence for allowing the tot to die, but has also been released.