The mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse, has told her parole hearing that she believes she would be a risk to children in her care.
Tracey Connelly was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, on August 3 2007.
Known publicly as Baby P, Peter 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.
Connelly’s parole hearing is the seventh review for release and second review since she was recalled to prison last year after breaching licence conditions.
Asked if she perceives herself as being a risk to children, Connelly said: “Children in my care? Yes.
“Given how bad I was at it, I have to always accept that there is always a risk if I am left looking after children, which I can’t see ever being the case.
“Am I a risk to children walking down the street? No.”
Connelly also said she would not have a relationship with someone who has regular contact with children or grandchildren.
She added: “I don’t want to be around other people’s children or grandchildren.
“I was shit with my own, I don’t want to put anybody else at risk from me.”
Connelly admitted the offence of causing or allowing the death of her son and was handed a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of five years.
Her then boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were convicted of the same crime.
Connelly, now in her 40s, gave evidence to her parole hearing that she “knew deep down” that her son, Peter, was being abused by Barker.
Giving evidence, she said: “I knew deep down because the injuries weren’t making sense and I was so busy trying to prove all the professionals wrong that I ignored my gut.”
Her then partner Barker moved in around the end of 2006, the panel heard, and she had not told social services that he and his brother were also living in the house.
Connelly told the Parole Board there is “a lot more I probably could have done to protect my children” before the death of Peter.
She said: “If I had told the professionals this man was living with me, if I had explained we were more than he was just visiting, there are 101 different things I could have done.
“I’m ashamed to admit, I was in my own head, in my own bubble. I wanted my prince charming and unfortunately my children paid for that.”
She said one of her children “couldn’t stand him” but her “selfishness didn’t acknowledge it”.
She added: “They were stuck in a worse situation that allowed my son to die.”
Speaking of being a mother before her son’s death, Connelly also admitted: “I was a bad mother
“I failed to protect them, I put my needs first, I took all my anger at the world on my older children.
“I didn’t give them what they needed and they deserve a whole lot better than me.”
The hearing heard how Connelly had engaged with a lot of interventions during her time in prison, including work with a forensic psychologist and trauma therapy.
But the panel heard that Connelly was recalled to prison for a second time last year after she started a relationship with a man she met online without telling officials supervising her.
Her parole hearing, livestreamed by video feed on Wednesday, heard the situation “closely mirrored” that of her first recall and when she was in custody following her return to prison, when she also developed intimate relationships.
Asked by the panel how after this third occasion she has concealed a relationship what is going to be different now, Connelly explained how her relationship with professionals is more collaborative and before she struggled with a lack of trust.
In events leading to her second recall, Connelly said she “lied” to professionals because she feared being rejected if she had to disclose her offending.
She told her parole hearing that she developed a friendship with a man, which started as “flirty banter” online, and which eventually led to the pair meeting and starting a sexual relationship.
Connelly said: “I did prioritise that relationship over truthfulness to the COMs.
“I robbed myself of the chance to prove to them that I could have a safe and happy relationship, I robbed myself from getting support from them to deal with things.”
Asked about how she has been getting on in prison since her return, she said she has learnt through the work she has done there that “I’m my own worst bully”.
She said she hopes the professional relationships she now has will help her keep going forward.
Earlier in the hearing, the parole chairwoman said the panel has heard “extremely moving” victim statements from the child’s loved ones.
“There can be no doubt that Peter’s death has caused lifelong harm to those who loved him,” Sally Allbeury said.
Panel members for Connelly’s review will assess her risk in whether to release her from prison or recommend she is transferred to open prison conditions.
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