The evil mum of Baby P breached her licence and was thrown back in jail after secretly striking up an online fling, a hearing was told today.
Cowardly Tracey Connelly is refusing to appear on camera from prison as a Parole Board panel decides if she should be released or moved to an open jail. It is the first time the 44-year-old has given a public account of Peter's death, more than 18 years after he died aged just 17 months.
Today it emerged Connelly was recalled to prison in August last year after she developed an "intimate relationship with a man Ms Connelly met online which she did not disclose to professionals". Experts say she kept the relationship hidden by deleting messages and material from her phone because it made her "feel nice and feel good about herself and didn't want to lose that". It came 10 years after she was first recalled to prison in 2015 after "secretly developing intimate personal relationships via the internet and inciting another resident at her accommodation to engage in inappropriate behaviour".
It emerged Connelly had "developed an intimate relationship with another prisoner" after her first recall to prison in 2015. Mrs Allbeury said: "This was subject to considerable scrutiny around concerns Ms Connelly had been deceptive towards those supervising her and had inappropriately prioritised her relationship, both of which were considered to be offence paralleling behaviours."
Experts fear Connelly has repeatedly failed to disclose intimate relationships because she feared being unmasked as Baby P's mum by probation services. Her POM said: "She's worried, 'Probation might disclose it to him and he might not want me anymore', and that's why she keeps it secret."
Meanwhile Connelly's prison offender manager (POM) said she has been subject to abuse and threats in jail. Asked about the abuse she has faced, Connelly's POM said: "It's a difficult situation but there's never been any instances of her retaliating to that. "I think she has managed that appropriately - reporting it to staff, seeking support from staff." Asked if it still happens, the POM said: "Unfortunately it does continue particularly when Tracey is going to work in the morning, but in terms of where she is located... she is more protected there."
Chair of the Parole Board panel Sally Allbeury today revealed that baby Peter's family had written "extremely moving" statements in which they demanded certain conditions are put on Connelly if she is released. She said: "There can be no doubt that Peter's death has caused life-long harm to those who loved him and, as such, they too are victims of Ms Connelly's offending." Connelly - who works as an orderly on the care and supervision unit in jail - is subject to "abuse and threats" in prison as she makes her way to work every day, the hearing was told. One one occasion an inmate spat at her but she has never been attacked, it was said.
Connelly was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 for causing or allowing Peter's death at their home in Tottenham, north London, on August 3 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.
A harrowing list of Peter's injuries was today read. Mrs Allbeury told the hearing: "A postmortem revealed a large number of injuries, including a broken back, several broken fractured ribs, a missing tooth which he had swallowed having likely been broken following a blow to the face, missing fingernails and bruising all over his body". Experts said she had previously "felt anger towards her children, believing they were interfering in her relationship with her partner and they were a hindrance".
Connelly has been released twice but recalled on both occasions. Most recently she was released in July 2022 but was thrown back in jail in August 2024 after breaching the conditions of her release. In a briefing before Connelly's hearing, Parole Board chiefs said Connelly "played a major role" in little Peter's death and repeated the judge's comments that she "breached her position of trust".
Connelly has always refused to answer questions over little Peter's death, even choosing not to give evidence at her trial. But today - after the Parole Board ruled the 44-year-old's hearing should be made public - she is accounting for her actions for the first time. Connelly is being quizzed by a panel of experts.
Experts have already said Connelly poses a "high and potentially imminent" risk if she was freed and given access to children. Connelly herself does not even support a full unconditional release back into the public, it has already been reported. In a judgement ordering that a two-day parole hearing is heard in public, the Parole Board states: "In the current psychological risk assessment, it is assessed that her risk of violence remains low, but that future risk would be high and potentially imminent if she were to have access to children while other risk factors (such as unhealthy intimate relationships or poor mental health) are present.
"There are some outstanding treatment targets, though these are not viewed as essential core risk reduction work nor necessary to be completed in core conditions. Ms Connelly, in interview, has stated that she will not be seeking unconditional release due to the support she would lose. The COM’s professional opinion is that the proposed risk management plan including the requested additional licence conditions would support a re-release back into the community."
Baby Peter died after the authorities missed 60 opportunities to save him. Connelly pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child the following year and was given an indefinite prison sentence in 2009. Her lover Steven Barker, 49, was locked up for a minimum of 12 years for torturing the tragic toddler. His brother, Jason Owen, 52, received a six-year jail sentence for allowing Peter to die. The case had a lasting impact on how safeguarding is carried out for vulnerable children in the UK.