WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. As Tracey Connelly, the evil mother of Baby P, makes another bid for freedom, the Mirror takes a look at the nine month reign of terror by Connelly’s sadistic lover, Steven Barker
The case of Peter Connelly, best known as Baby P, continues to haunt nearly 18 years on, with the 17-month-old having suffered unimaginable cruelty in the final days of his short life.
On August 3, 2007, little Peter was discovered dead in his blood-soaked cot, having suffered more than 50 horrifying injuries at the hands of those who should have cared for him, before being left to die. His head had been shaved to the scalp, he had eight broken ribs, a broken back and the missing top of a finger. Every single item of the tot’s clothing was splattered with blood.
Peter’s stepfather, Steven Barker, was later sentenced to 12 years for causing or allowing the tot’s death, while Barker’s brother, Jason Owen, who had lived at the family home in Haringey, North London, received a six-year term for the same charge. His mother, Tracey Connelly, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of her son and was imprisoned in 2009.
Evil Connelly, now 44, refused to give evidence at her 2007 trial for allowing her son to be subjected to a campaign of sickening abuse, but this week she has given her first-ever public account of his death as she makes another bid for freedom.
Connelly, who has previously always refused to answer questions over Peter’s death, told the hearing: “I was a bad mother. I failed to protect them. I put my needs first. I took all my anger out at the world on my children. I didn’t give them what they needed, and they deserved better than me.”
It was in June 2006 that Connelly entered into a relationship with Barker, whom she this week described as her “Prince Charming”. Addressing the hearing, Connelly admitted: “I was selfish. I wanted my happy ever after.” In November 2006, Barker moved into Connelly’s home, beginning a nine-month reign of terror.
READ MORE: Baby P: Tracey Connelly says she was blinded by pursuit of ‘Prince Charming’
It later emerged that the authorities missed 60 opportunities to save Peter as the abuse against the tot escalated. In December 2006, as per BBC News, Connelly was arrested after a GP spotted bruises on the child’s face and chest. This same month, Peter was placed on the child protection register and placed into the temporary care of a childminder, who was also a family friend.
The woman who cared for Peter over this six-week period, which encompassed his final Christmas, reported that the boy did not get any more bruises and was eating and sleeping well, The Independent reports. At the end of the six-weeks, despite the police investigation and various visits, authorities remained unaware that Barker was living with Connelly and her children.
A friend of Connelly’s later told officers that she had regularly seen Barker at the property, and also reported noticing blood pouring out of Peter’s ear on two occasions after he’d been bathed by his mother’s partner. A relative who stayed at the house on a temporary basis told detectives how Barker carried out most of the housework and childcare, while Connelly spent her time smoking on the sofa, complaining about being tired and frequenting computer chatrooms.
The original trial heard how, while Connelly was busying herself in chat rooms, Barker would take the opportunity to beat young Peter, whom he would swing around by the neck or legs. The depraved stepfather would even force Baby P to obey commands as though he were a dog, clicking his fingers as a way of giving out orders.
Starving and deprived of food, Peter was forced to scavenged bits of biscuits from other children and was once seen eating dirt in the garden.
In April 2007, Peter was admitted to North Middlesex Hospital, having sustained bruises and two black eyes, as well as swelling on the left side of his head. The following month, after noticing marks on Peter’s face, a social worker sent the little boy to North Middlesex, where he was found to have 12 areas of bruises and scratches. It was at this point that Connelly was re-arrested.
In June 2007, Barker’s brother Owen, then a 35-year-old member of the National Front, moved into the household, accompanied by his 15-year-old girlfriend, his five children, a pet snake and, at some point, a Rottweiler dog. A friend of Connelly’s would later claim that the mum had asked Owen and the others to leave, only for them to refuse. However, although Connelly was said to be “frightened of Owen”, these fears were not voiced to the authorities.
Meanwhile, authorities were only made aware of Barker’s presence in the house on June 15, when Haringey family support worker Marie Lockhart was introduced to Connelly’s “friend”. Owen, too, who officers were later informed was “hiding” from people, had also slipped under the radar.
On July 30, 2007, mere days before Peter’s death, Connelly duped a social worker by smearing the baby’s hands and face with chocolate. At her hearing this week, Connelly denied having tried to conceal his injuries, insisting: “There was a suggestion where I covered [Peter’s] face in chocolate. But I washed it off in front of a social worker, and there were no bruises on his face.”
The day after this incident, police officers handed reports to the Crown Prosecution Service, which included statements from two doctors asserting Peter’s bruising suggested “non-accidental” injury. However, prosecutors decided there wasn’t enough evidence to bring a case forward.
On August 1 2007, just two days before Peter was discovered lifeless in his cot, the tot was taken to a child development clinic at Tottenham’s St Ann’s Hospital; however, paediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat concluded that she wouldn’t be able to give the boy a full check-up as he was “miserable and cranky”. As would be later determined in Peter’s post-mortem examination, by this point, the child had likely already suffered a broken back and fractured ribs.
The very next day, Connelly was informed by police that she wasn’t going to be prosecuted. It was that evening that Peter received a fatal final blow to the mouth, given with such force that it knocked his tooth out. A post-mortem determined that Peter had been treated with unimaginable cruelty, with his fingertips sliced off with a Stanley knife, and his nails pulled out with pliers.
Connelly’s two-day parole hearing is being held in public after the Parole Board decided that this was in the public interest. Panel members will assess Connelly’s risk in determining whether to release her from prison or recommend she be transferred to open prison conditions.
The hearing continues.
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