Tonight:
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The stepfather of Baby P today blamed blunders by an Old Bailey judge for his conviction for rape of a two-year-old girl.
Lawyers representing Steven Barker told the Appeal Court today that he did not get a fair trial.
They say Judge Stephen Kramer should have excluded the evidence of the alleged victim, saying she was not a “competent witness”, and stopped the trial to clear Barker before the jury could consider its verdict.
The judge also let slip a name which could have “poisoned” the jury against him by linking him to the Baby Peter scandal, it is claimed. Barker was handed a 12-year sentence for causing or allowing the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly in Haringey.
At the end of a separate trial, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years for the rape.
Barker, who was not in court today, is seeking leave to appeal against the rape conviction only.
The case continues.
