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Profile: Baby P's manipulative mother lied and lied but insists she knew nothing
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent11 Aug 2009
Tracey Connelly has a lifetime of experience in how to deceive and manipulate social workers.
Brought up by a cannabis-smoking mother and subjected to abuse from an early age, she grew up in a household focused on dodging the law.
She had been placed on the child protection register for neglect and sent to a reform school by social services.
As a result she knew she could only enjoy life if she kept interfering carers at arm's length.
Enjoying herself meant letting her house and children look after themselves while she spent hours on her computer finding porn sites and playing on-line poker.
The email address she created for herself — “need-choc-got-pmt” — was neither ironic nor self-mocking, just her state of mind.
She became fat and lazy and dogs roamed around the house, which was in a filthy state — but none of this mattered as long as the £450-a-week benefits kept rolling in.
To this day, two years after the hideous death of Peter, Connelly is apparently convinced she was not to blame.
It is as if the Old Bailey trial — in which Connelly was described by Judge Stephen Kramer as “manipulative, selfcentred, calculating and short tempered” — had never happened.
Despite the outcry at her five-year minimum sentence she has instructed her lawyers to apply for an appeal to have the term reduced.
From her cell, first in Holloway and now Low Newton, she has been up to her usual PR tricks, writing letters to friends insisting she knew nothing of the abuse her baby was suffering.
She claimed all the appalling injuries were inflicted behind her back by Steven Barker and she had no idea he was a sadist until the trial.
Not only that , she boasts that on her release — possibly as early as 2012 even if her appeal fails — she is going to have “one long party” and “play the field” with other men.
But at the same time, oblivious to the obvious contradiction, she also seeks sympathy by claiming to have discovered “God”.
Connelly, now 29, was brought to London from Leicester by her mother as she attempted to leave behind that disturbed childhood.
But very soon the cycle of abuse took its toll and child abuse returned to her family. As revealed by the Standard in May, a young relative of Peter's was also caught in a paedophile ring operating around Islington council care homes.
By the time of Peter's death he and two of his three sisters were on Haringey's child protection register and a school nurse had reported Connelly for slapping a second girl in a fit of temper.
She had met Peter's father, who was 17 years older, when she was 16 and moved in with him a year later.
This started a familiar spiral of marriage, pregnancy, dumping husband, and moving in a new boyfriend — all funded by state benefits.
After the birth of Peter, she was diagnosed as having chronic depression and turned to new boyfriend Barker when the baby was three months old.
She had Barker's initials tattooed on her shoulder and hid the 6ft 4in Nazi-loving thug from the local authority and her ex-husband, who was providing financial support.
Their first home in Hermitage Road, Tottenham, was described by social workers as cramped, untidy and smelling of urine.
They were moved to a church housing association property in nearby Penshurst Road which they shared with the family rottweiler, German shepherd and Staffordshire bull terrier.
When she was reunited with her own father, who came to stay in the cramped house, he was shocked to find that he and Barker did all the housework and childcare while his daughter lay on the sofa complaining about how tired she was.
The trial revealed that though she may have been a lazy slob, she was not stupid.
A pre-sentence report described her as “a vocal, not unintelligent young woman who is fairly articulate”.
At every interview or inquiry she has lied on an epic scale, deflected blame onto others and had an explanation for every injury her tragic son suffered.
That facility to lie, deceive and blame others is likely to persuade the parole board that Tracey Connelly remains a danger and should stay behind bars.
Reader views (9)
The worst thing the Govt. did wss stop the Social Work Diploma.This enabled mature people to train as social workers whereas 3 years at Uni. means mostly young and [I hate to say it but Middle class]youngsters qualify.Older people have more life experience and,as one who has worked in Secure establishments and Prisons,I know that the only way to deal with some of these people is to be authoratitive and firm- eg.'You must 'not 'Have you thought about'.I appreciate that Social workers have to build a relationship with their clients BUT the child is their client NOT the parents.I have to say that many Social Workers do a great job and we never hear about the good ones.However,when they get it wrong,the consequences can be tragic,as in this case.RIPBaby Peter.
- Vicky Stradling, Newport England, 13/08/2009 22:33
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Definitely the social workers these days are way too young. How can someone judge a parent when they aren't one themselves to know what is and isn't normal.
It is possible that the woman had an underlying medical problem that made her tired ( depression can frequently do this ), so I don't think we can judge her health without a look at her medical files! - just to call her lazy is just ignorant. However, the abuse she allowed can never be ignored. I, and many others I'm sure, have lost many nights' sleep thinking about what poor Baby Peter had to endure. There are people society have let down and turned into monsters, but it is society's responsibility to sort it out.
The blame for this has to lie with the LAZY social work team. They wouldn't have walked away, if it had been their own child.
- Liz,, N. Ireland, 13/08/2009 02:44
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All I've Read And Seen On the Tele I Can Only Say One Thing
"Not Even Hell Will Want The Accused For Baby Peter's Horrific Murder."
That woman needed serious help and still does. I hope that this violence has shown the world the disgracefully cruelty that comes with life. A child so innocent and young is far better of in the hands of god than that disgusting woman.
Never have i heard something so disturbing in my life. It Frightens me that there are people in this world of our that are prepared to corrupt and deform human nature and mutate it into aggression and insanity.
I couldn't help but laugh at "and “play the field” with other men." who would even want to befriend that disgraceful woman after everything she and those horrible men have done.
- Jessica, malaga spain, 12/08/2009 00:15
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If makes me sick that I work full time to pay for my house pay all my bills and this low life stayed at home smoking/drinking and abusing her child and pets while I have to pay my taxes to keep her !. As for the Social workers words simply fail me but the worse thing is when she gets out she will be given a new life a new name new home and all paid for YES YOU GUESSED IT US !then no doubt she will start her perverted life all over again and along will come another Baby P is there any other country in the world that would pander to these low lifes like this county does ?
- Linda Cliff, London, 11/08/2009 14:07
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Perhaps we should consider sending mothers to share the prison term of their offspring?
Sounds unfair, maybe, but it would certainly concentrate women`s minds on how they bring up, nurture or indeed still want to breed too many children.
- Darius, London UK, 11/08/2009 13:07
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Perhaps when she reads some of the outrage in the press today she will realise she's going to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. I get so sick of hearing that because someone had a bad time as a child that somehow excuses them aggressing other people when they grow up: hundreds of thousands of people have gone through awful things in their childhood and have chosen to grow up a BETTER person because of it. Anyone who has heard a normal well-looked after baby screaming would know how hard it is to ignore - it is utterly impossible that this selfish woman did not know what was going on - possibly she even joined in.
- Roz, France, 11/08/2009 10:44
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Unfortunately some young social workers have no experience of life, they like to see the good in everyone and have the wool pulled over the eyes time and time again. Women such as Tracey learn all the tricks going in order to deceive, and these so called social workers are far too stressed and niave not to be able to see beyond it.
- Sue, Orpington, Kent, 11/08/2009 09:12
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This not only highlights the widespread physical and mental abuse of children behind close doors but underlines the scandal of CONVENIENCE children.
Mothres who deliberately get themselves pregnant to avoid legal punishment and obtain free housing and many other benefits from the state.Also, the men who assist them.
Is it because there is less money to be made in the absence of a sexual connotation, that other forms of child abuse appear to merit less attention generally?
- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk., 11/08/2009 09:08
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It seems social workers are very easy to manipulate, judging by the number of tiny children who are subjected to abuse by their parents.
- Lin, London England, 11/08/2009 08:12
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