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Baby P's manipulative mother and her sadistic boyfriend were named for the first time today after a court order giving them anonymity expired.
Tracey Connelly, 28, and her lover Steven Barker, 33, were responsible for the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly in his blood-spattered room in August 2007. He suffered 50 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken back.
It can also be disclosed that the third defendant in the case, Jason Owen, 37, is Barker's brother. And the Barker brothers' past does not stop at taunting and torturing a toddler.
They were also accused of assaulting their own grandmother, and Steven Barker was reportedly prosecuted by the RSPCA for animal cruelty.
Connelly's mother said today her daughter deserved to "rot in hell" for her part in Peter's death.
Mary O'Connor, 59, said: "I haven't got any sympathy for her at all. Maybe now she will feel fear and understand what my grandson went through as he was being tortured to death.
"She robbed me of my grandson. My heart is broken and I'll never forgive her for that. I can't."
Barker and Owen's father also condemned his sons, saying: "What they did was awful and they deserve to be punished. I don't care what happens to them. Everyone thinks they are monsters and I don't think any different."
Connelly, who has four other children, was involved with social workers throughout her childhood and knew how to manipulate them.
She started a relationship with Peter's father, who was considerably older than her, when she was just 16 having lied to him about her age. They went on to marry.
The Barkers - Owen changed his name - were charged with assaulting their grandmother Hilda Barker, 82, at her home in Whitstable, Kent, in 1995.
She told police they locked her in a wardrobe to make her change her will in their favour. The case was dropped the following year, before the Barkers came to trial, after the frail grandmother died from pneumonia.
Connelly and Barker, of Penshurst Road, Tottenham, north London, were sentenced in May for causing or allowing Peter's death.
They could not be named until now for legal reasons, although their names and photographs have appeared on the internet.
Father-of-four Owen was also jailed for the same offence, which took place while he was staying at Peter's home with his 15-year-old runaway lover.
In addition to Barker's presence at the house, social workers had also missed Owen and his girlfriend, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
The semi-detached, church-owned house was filthy. Connelly's two dogs and Barker's rottweiler Kaiser, which was used to terrify Peter, also lived there.
Doctors, social workers and police failed to save Peter despite him being on the Haringey Council child protection register.
After the trio's Old Bailey trial ended in November last year, there was public outrage at the way Peter was let down by the authorities. All three defendants were cleared of murder.
Judge Stephen Kramer ruled that there was insufficient evidence against Connelly and Owen. Barker, whom Peter called "Dad", was cleared of murder by the jury.
But Connelly pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of her son and the brothers were convicted of the same offence by the jury.
In May, Barker and Connelly were tried in secret for the rape of a two-year-old girl just before Peter's death. Barker was convicted of rape but Connelly was cleared of a child cruelty charge.
They were tried under the names of Young and Wilson to avoid the jury linking them to the Baby P case. The brothers and Connelly were jailed later that month.
Barker was told he had played the major part in Peter's death and was given 12 years. He was also jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years for raping the girl. Connelly was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of five years.
Judge Kramer told her she was "manipulative and self-centred". "I am satisfied that you acted selfishly because your priority was your relationship with Barker," he said.
Since being jailed, she has written to a friend saying that she wants to party when she is released. She is also still claiming she did not know about Peter's abuse.
Owen was given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of three years. He was said to be more worried about being discovered at the house with his 15-year-old girlfriend than protecting Peter.
He was reportedly accused of raping an 11-year-old girl when he was 13 - although the case was later dropped - and jailed for arson after setting fire to his own house in 1999.
Connelly, Barker and Owen are all said to be trying to appeal against their sentences.
It is understood Connelly was recently moved from London's Holloway Prison to Low Newton, near Durham.
Connelly and Barker's crimes are so notorious that they are likely to need protection - and possibly new identities - on release from prison, an expert said.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of probation union Napo, acknowledged that such a move would be "hugely controversial".
He said: "The question will be, how well known are they in five years' time, or whatever? And will Baby P still resonate with the public in terms of horrendous crime?
"If it does - and I suspect it will - the probation service and police will have no choice but to put in place a protection plan."
Reader views (27)
i think these sick disgusting creatures should get the death because they need to feel what he felt he was a poor little innocent child who was beautiful. i think they need to do something about the social service and start doin there job then just talking to the parents and see what they say. those things deserve not to be on the earth and when there time does come they will enjoy themselfves in hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Ashley, Johnstown, PA
It seems to me that this dreadful case provides strong support for two propositions which our politicians have ignored for too long:
1. Capital punishment should be restored urgently
2. The mentally and morally unfit should be sterilised
This tragic case provides strong support for two propositions too long neglected by our politicians;
1. Capital punishment should be restored urgently
2. The mentally and morally unfit should be sterilised
- Professor David Marsland, Reading, UK
Police should do what some countries do.
Give them to the public for them to make justice.
They worth nothing and what can we expect for these 3 animals future?
Well, we will pay for their new id's and new life...
Perfect!
- Marcos, Windsor
I've never really been a maternal person and wasn't really interested in having children, however, I had a baby boy 6 weeks ago and absolutely adore him. I can't ever imagine wanting to harm him or allowing anyone else to, so I cannot fathom how this woman and her accomplices could ever do such a wicked thing to a defenceless baby. It makes me cry whenever I think about what they did. They cannot have an ounce of humanity within them. It's just too easy for some people to have children, it's scary.
- Monica, London
Ugly aren't they?
- Nowan King, London
These people have massively offended the sensibilities of virtually every person in this country. What is even more offensive is that we now have to contemplate paying out of our own pockets to keep them safe and free from harm when they emerge from prison. They committed a series of unbelievably painful attacks on a defenceless child and these were done with due knowledge of the distress they would cause. Please explain to me the justification for protecting them against harm. At least, they are big enough to look after themselves. I think they should just be set free and then come to terms with the cruelty in this world. After all they did this to Peter.
- Bryan Ward, Chelmsford
There is nothing unchristian in sending these people to meet their maker sooner rather than later.It is the right [ and even a duty] of christians to protect society and that includes legal execution and war [study theology.].For some reason in the West this is now an unfashionable view but has only become so recently.It is an entirely false view of what it means to be christian.I could see in my lifetime , once hanging was ended , the most evil people were released to reoffend and to breed more evil. The UK is reaping this harvest , Soham , French students tortured,etc.-just the tip of the iceberg.It is the devil who is laughing.
- Chris M, morbihan,france
Whether they are given new identities or not, surely all three will have to be on some sort of register to protect future children. Or are you not considered a child molester if you kill your own child???
- Enny, essex
It was no only the three of these that contributed to baby Peters death........... The sickening grandmother Mary Oconner and her daughters father should now pay a price as the evil monstor mother was abused when young!
The Grandparents can not in anyway say they had nothing to do with this crime! If the daughter had been given love and attention in a clean home where she would have been protected from vile men then she would have had a chance of becoming a decent person and a loving mum!
No chance of that with this evil Grandmother! May you now live a terrifying life and all rot in hell!
- Valerie, Hampton Middlesex
This scum should never see the light of day as free men and women again. The paltry sentences they received are far too short. They deserve only a slow lingering death and I pray that the predators they share their prisons with seek to do to them as they did to that poor defenceless child.
- M, London
The main point that all of this misses is that we allow mentally subnormal sociopaths to have any children at all. You need a licence for a dog, but any unemployed halfwit can have as many children as they can find different fathers and we as society not only have to pay the the financial and social costs, we also then wonder where the cohesion of society has gone when the feral offspring of these idiots grow up.
- Jon, london
Ronnie Biggs was sentenced at the time the crime was committed - a time when sentences were much tougher: he chose to postpone when he served to a time when sentences are light - this has paid off as he has now been released.
Nj: when the country is civilised it will not have crimes like this to punish. These people are not so much evil as moronic and selfish. Hanging is not about 'an eye for an eye' or placating the anger of the masses: it places the killer's own value on his own life - the killer, do not forget, has a choice which their victim did not. I don't know how you can say that the death penalty is not an effective deterrant given that murder rates have gone through the ceiling since its abolition in the UK.
- Roz, France
Can people stop using this awfull story to comment on "poor lil old ronnie biggs"
I certainly won't hang my head in shame, for thinking he should rot in jail, as he should be rotting in jail.
People like Roy H., Billericay Essex it's you that should be hanging your head in shame for thinking biggs is a "victim" and using this poor little lads case to get a bit more about biggs in.
Now go and hang your head in shame, AND read the sentencing properly, they wont be out in a few years as people seem to think, read the sentencing results correctly.
- Daisy Willetts, London
A number of contributors have made reference to the cost of keeping these objects in prison,or having their identities changed,in my view costs do not come into it,these three things have forfeited their right to live,and should be given a lethal injection immediately,preferably with an extremely blunt needle.
- Colin, Bristol
They are all appealing against their sentences.
Quite right too. They should face the gallows...
- Danny, London
A civilised country does not kill its own citizens as retribution. Evil people will always commit evil acts, but putting them to death achieves nothing. What do you want the criminal justice system to achieve? An eye for an eye mentality has no place in a modern society and the death penalty is proven not to be an effective deterrent, so what does it achieve other than placate the anger of the masses?
- Nj, London
Don't even mention the name Ronnie Biggs; with these animals, they are a million miles apart in the crimes of violence and cowardice.
We have seen Ronnie called a mindless vicious thug on this forum; and deserving of his 30 year sentence, even suggestions he rot in hell etc; yet these cowardly child killers only got 1/3rd of the sentence Ronnie got.
Now tell me that the State did not influence out of vengeance and spite; for robbing a train of their money; the jail sentences the train robbers got?
It is very clear that money takes preference over child abuse and child murder in the UK.
The hypocrisy of all British Governments is consistently double-barrelled; blue collar robbery is always punished with excessive use of the law; white collar robbery is rarely punished at all.
The biggest injustice of all in the UK today is; to our defenceless children; they hold out their tiny hands for help; their eyes full of tears and pain; yet time after time we fail them.
Hang your heads in shame you Governments, you MPs, and you Social Workers; all you care about is yourselves.
And please don’t keep telling us you have learnt valuable lessons, you have put into action new guidelines that will protect children in the future; and it won’t happen again etc; because you are all liars, and it does happen week after week.
So leave Ronnie Biggs out of this; robbing a train once; is a million miles away from the daily brutality and murder that children suffer in the UK.
- Mickinlondon, london.
These vile creatures will now be afforded more protection than Baby Peter ever was when he was alive. The authorites having failed to protect Baby P are now tripping over themselves to secure his killers' safety.
And for the grandmother that said: "I haven't got any sympathy for her at all. Maybe now she will feel fear and understand what my grandson went through as he was being tortured to death.
"She robbed me of my grandson. My heart is broken and I'll never forgive her for that. I can't."
Did you not notice anything unusual?
- Darren, london
Bob, Cheam: not at all pointless - I'm online every day and didn't know their identities and I'm more net-connected than most other people I know.
- Roz, France
Just reading what these people did fills me with a sickening feeling of revulsion. I can understand why some people are calling for a return of the death penalty. If ever there was a case for "life-to-mean-life" prison sentences, without parole or appeal, this was it.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
If there ever was a reason to bring back the death penalty this would be it. How dare they be let out in 5 years time or at any time. They tortured a child slowly to death! Disgusting! When people like this are able to roam free and us the taxpayers are paying for them to be protected - we live in a sick society.
- Jk, London
A bit pointless really as this information had already been disclosed via the internet and text messages. They will be hidden away and protected from the general public for the rest of their lives so ultimately a redundant exercise.
- Bob, Cheam
We have a society where some members of it contribute absolutely nothing all their lives. It's a never ending spiral of the abused becoming an abuser. Unless something unpalatable to some, justified by others is done, like sterilise and vesectomise those involved, it will just continue and we will have even more cases like baby Peter in future. Personally, I'd happily hang the three of them and get shot of them for good! (Oh you can't do that, all the do gooders will say, reading this). No doubt the poor old tax payer will be coughing up the dosh to give these low-lifes new identities when they are released,and of course they will continue living off the state ad infinitum. Sticks in the throat doesn't it for us who work to keep this scum of the earth?
- Sue, Orpington, Kent
What is all this talk of paying for protection?? Firstly what are these animals doing out of prison in the first place? Secondly if protection and anonymity is more expensive than prison then they should be shown the choice; either remain in prison or choose to leave and face the consequences - leave the country if needs be. If shes so 'manipulative' and resourcesful I'm sure the threat of public lynching will prompt some self-preservation initiative.
A furious and disgusted Tommy T
- Tommy T, London, UK
So let me get this straight - I suspect that Haringey managed to get an injunction on their names being released as their records would have been exposed and more questions asked as to Haringey's failings. The cost (let alone the human cost) has been astronomical racked up by investigations. enquiries, pay-offs , courts cases and now prison costs and now it seems when they are released we will need to pay to 'protect' them.
Haringey - A Liberal Council.
- Hansel, London
Although I believe Ronnie Biggs deserved 30 years, look what he did to get it compared to what this scum did for a mere 12. No political party has committed to building more prisons: the illogical philosophy is that as there are not enough spaces, criminals should be given lighter sentences so the Prison Service can 'cope'. The length of sentence that the Judges can hand down has been determined by the politicians and yet the buck for 'light' sentences is passed to the judiciary.
Some kinds of crime are so heinous, so beyond the codes of ANY society that the perpetrators cannot then expect that society to protect and nourish them. Even if there were a thousand spare places in jail, the punishment for crimes like this should be hanging: it is swift, it is unvengeful, it is practical and it sends a clear signal to other would-be child torurers, child-rapists and child-murderers that their crime will not be tolerated. People such as these think only of themselves: "I might go to prison" has no resonance if they have no idea what prison is like, how long they will spend there or the likelihood of them getting caught. However: "the Police always prosecute and if I'm caught I will die" is more likely to influence the choices they make.
- Roz, France
This makes me grieve for the British Criminal Justice System.
The naming of these monsters puts into context the "crimes" of Ronnie Biggs and a comparison of the sentences imposed shows that our avaricious "society" truly puts our covetous emotions before human, infact, life.
Those that said that Biggs should be left to rot and die in Gaol should hang their heads in shame.
- Roy H., Billericay Essex
