Mother of Baby P to face public parole hearing in October
The hearing, which has been listed for October 22 to 23 at an unconfirmed venue, is Tracey Connelly's first review since her second recall to prison in August last year for breaching her licence conditions.
The now 44-year-old was jailed 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.
The Parole Board received two applications for October's review to be held in public, which described Connelly's 'landmark case' as 'one of the most high-profile and devastating child protection failures in UK history' which 'permanently altered the conversation around safeguarding', according Judge Peter Rook KC's judgment.
It was argued that the public still does not have access to the 'real details', citing that previous decisions around parole and recall have been made in private and a public hearing would 'provide crucial context to a case that remains deeply significant to the public'.
A lawyer for Connelly argued against the hearing being made public, saying it poses a risk to her safety and that there is a 'high risk' her identity will be compromised as 'threats to her safety are real and current'.
The legal representative also said Connelly has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression, and that a public hearing will 'exacerbate' these issues and have a 'significant and detrimental effect' on her evidence at the parole hearing.
But Judge Rook, on behalf of the chair of the Parole Board, said the lawyer acknowledged Connelly 'recovers well from these events'.
According to his judgment, Connelly experienced 'offence-related bullying and aggression' after her recall to prison which 'led to a decline in her mental health' but the judge said she reportedly responded well, without resorting to violence, and has now 'stabilised'.
Granting the application for October's hearing to be held in public, the judge said: 'There can be no doubt that there is a substantial public interest in this case.
'There is a strong public interest in the extent that Ms Connelly currently presents a risk and, if so, what measures are proposed in order to manage it.'
He added that a public hearing could 'reassure' the public of the 'thoroughness' of the Parole Board's risk assessment and the probation resources which would be supervising her in the event of her release.
'This may go some way to address legitimate public concern about Ms Connelly,' judge Rook said.
Connelly left prison in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release in March that year – having rejected three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019 – after hearing she was considered to be at 'low risk of committing a further offence' and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan.
This was despite the panel highlighting concerns over Connelly's ability to manipulate and deceive, and hearing evidence of how she had become embroiled in prison romances and traded secret love letters with an inmate.
Then-justice secretary Dominic Raab appealed against the decision, but a judge rejected his bid to keep her behind bars. Condemning the move, Mr Raab said at the time this was proof the parole system needs a 'fundamental overhaul'.
She had previously been released on licence in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Saudi Arabian student, 20, stabbed to death outside apartments 'was on his third summer in Cambridge' and known as a 'nice kid'
A Saudi Arabian student was spending his third summer in Cambridge when he was stabbed to death, the Daily Mail understands. Mohammed Algasim, 20, died on Saturday night outside luxury apartments in Mill Park, in what police have described as an 'unprovoked attack'. Paramedics battled to save his life for more than 30 minutes but he was pronounced dead at 12.01am. The student was on a 10-week placement at EF International Language Campuses Cambridge - a private school offering English language courses to overseas students. The school told the Daily Mail in a statement today: 'We are deeply saddened by what has happened. 'At this time, we are focused on supporting our students, staff and Mohammed's family.' Local Natalie Ahluwalia revealed how Mr Algasim had been leaning against a tree in the square and chatting with four or five of his friends just hours before he died. Today, his grief-stricken family travelled to the city and prayed near where floral tributes have been laid. The Daily Mail has been told they arrived in order to organise the repatriation of Mr Algasim to his native country in order for him to be buried, according to his Muslim religion. Ms Ahluwalia, a 39-year-old mother, told the Daily Mail: 'The students come here every summer when the university students leave. I don't know them personally, but they are part of our community. 'Mohammed and his friends used to spend time here in this square. There's never any trouble at all. They're really nice kids. They just sit out and socialise. 'I saw him in the evening, at about 8.30pm on Friday night as I was going to the mosque. He was there, leaning up against a tree, with four or five boys. He was chatting. 'They come here to make friends with each other and socialise. They're lovely, kind and polite.' She had come home from the mosque and was in her flat with her son when Mohammed was killed. She said: 'I heard this screaming. A girl was screaming. It was an endless scream.' Chas Corrigan, 21, from Cambridge, has been charged with murder and possession of a knife in a public place. He appeared before Peterborough Magistrates' Court yesterday and was remanded in custody. Mr Algasim's heartbroken family yesterday paid tribute to 'a young man brimming with enthusiasm, brimming with chivalry and courage'. His uncle, Majed Abalkhail, also spoke out to say he hopes the tragic death will 'prompt serious reflection on public safety and the protection of innocent lives'. He told The National that 'many people' in the UK and abroad had expressed growing concerns about a 'rise in violent crime' in Britain. Mr Abalkhail added: 'We believe the country is no longer a safe destination for students or tourists.' The doting uncle went on to describe his nephew as a 'calm, kind-hearted young man, loved and respected by everyone who knew him'. In a statement, Mr Alqassem's family said: 'He was a dutiful son, a loving brother, and the leader of the family in spirit, not in appearance. 'He was cheerful, chivalrous, pure of heart, quick to give, and passionate about others. 'Over time, he became the family's charisma, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy in every gathering. 'He was his father's support, his familiar companion, and the assistant to his uncles and maternal uncles. 'He was the most compassionate person to ever visit a mother's heart and the closest to his sisters' embrace.' Floral tributes have been left on the pavement outside one of the buildings as mourners pay their respects to the student. A message, on a piece of paper taped to a barrier behind the tributes, said 'may your soul be at peace' and had heart shapes drawn on it. It also said 'inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un', which is an Arabic phrase meaning 'to God we belong and to Him we return'.
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Pitiful justice from the FCA: It took far too long to put Woodford in the stocks, says ALEX BRUMMER
How jolly good it is that financial justice has finally caught up with disgraced investment guru Neil Woodford and his irresponsible and deceitful management of the collapsed Woodford Equity Investment Fund (WEIF). There is satisfaction to be drawn from the ban imposed on Woodford from holding senior management roles and looking after retail investors' cash. Moreover, Woodford personally will have to cough up £5.8million in fines and his eponymous investment firm some £40million. Yet the process of delivering verdicts for Woodford savers (including this writer), which started when Andrew Bailey was chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has been exasperating. It has taken six long years to reach this point, and one fears that there will be victims of Woodford's nefarious behaviour who will have missed out on seeing the regulator swing into action. And it is not over yet since Woodford, lawyered to the hilt, is taking the matter to the Upper Tribunal, the FCA's equivalent of the High Court. That means more delays. Much of the material in the voluminous decision documents relating to Woodford Investment Management and WEIF emerged at the time. It was known, for instance, that Woodford sought to cover up a lack of liquidity in his funds by transferring assets to the obscure Guernsey stock exchange. He also sought to shift the blame for what happened to corporate director Link. The FCA found them jointly culpable and Link, now controlled from Down Under, has already paid £230million in restitution for its error. The rules-based system under which the FCA operates needs to be preserved if retail investors and professionals, such as Kent County Council, are to be protected. What is intolerable is the bureaucratic faffing which has taken so long to put Woodford in the stocks. In the interim, Woodford still offers his services as a financial adviser. The FCA has also failed, thus far, to establish how it was that some 300,000 people who invested in Woodford funds were exposed through the Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) platform and its own fund of funds. HL is now owned by a consortium of private equity investors led by CVC. That is no excuse for escaping culpability and facing up to HL's responsibility for misleading savers. Musical chairs Often it is said that the main duty of the chairman is to fire the chief executive. At Diageo, Sir John Manzoni, who took over as chairman early this year, lost little time in disposing of one of the FTSE 100's small gang of women bosses, Debra Crew. Admittedly, at the time, Diageo's share price was in sharp retreat, falling by 30 per cent. Authoritative accounts suggest that Crew was ambushed. When she questioned the assertiveness of finance director Nik Jhangiani with Manzoni, she signed her own resignation letter. The latest results show that, were it not for the Trump tariffs – which cannot be blamed on Crew – the underlying picture was much better than thought with organic sales up 1.7 per cent at £15.1billion. The vital North American market was still robust with sales up 1.5 per cent. This is despite the trend of Gen Z turning away from alcohol. Where does this, one wonders, leave Murray Auchincloss, chief executive of BP, in another part of the corporate forest? New chairman Albert Manifold has ordered a review of the business and costs, and he hasn't even been seated. What that means for the sensible Auchincloss strategy, already under fire from activist Elliott, one shudders to think. Tech leakage No board of directors would dare turn down a bid premium of 104.9 per cent unless it came from the Ayatollah himself. So British scientific instrument maker Spectris has been able to sit back as private equity ghouls Advent and KKR fight it out for control, with the latter back in the driving seat. If the sharp minds at Advent and KKR were able to see the value, where were the British analysts and buy-side investors as Spectris languished in the lower reaches of the FTSE 250? And doesn't a Labour government, committed to a high-tech future for the UK, worry about the escape of British intellectual property overseas? It should do.
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Woodford fined £46m and banned from top City roles: Ex-fund manager branded 'not fit and proper' by watchdog
The financial watchdog has fined Neil Woodford and his company £46million and banned the disgraced fund manager from holding top City jobs. The former star stock picker 'made unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions' before his fund collapsed and left thousands of investors trapped, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found. In a damning verdict, it yesterday hit Woodford with a £5.9million charge and his company with a £40million penalty. And the regulator said the money manager's 'lack of competence, capability and reputation' meant he was 'not a fit and proper person' to hold senior management roles or control retail investor funds. It comes six years after more than 300,000 investors were left with around £3.7billion stuck in the Woodford Equity Income fund in one of the UK's biggest retail investment scandals. The FCA said Woodford 'did not react appropriately as the fund's value declined, its liquidity worsened, and more investors withdrew their money'. The regulator accused Woodford of holding a 'defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities'. Campaigners have urged the Government to strip Woodford of the CBE he received in 2023 for services to the economy. But in a statement through his lawyers, Woodford said he will fight the decision and blamed the regulator and the fund's manager Link for the collapse and investor losses. The penalty and ban are dependent on the outcome of the appeal process. At the crux of the scandal was a lump of illiquid investments made by Woodford, meaning they were difficult to rapidly turn into cash. When investors started pulling out their money, it was the more liquid investments that were sold first to fund the withdrawals. But that was unfair to those who kept their money invested, because they were left with a disproportionate share of the remaining illiquid assets before being locked out of the fund. Woodford Investment Management (WIM) insisted that his new venture – a subscription service that costs up to £840 a year – would not be affected. A spokesman for WIM and Woodford said: 'We believe the appeal process will shed much needed light on the events leading to and following the fund's suspension, including the regulator's role in those events.'
