Baby P’s mother could be a free woman by Christmas, despite admitting she was a selfish mother who let her baby down. Tracey Connelly has kickstarted her freedom fight and the Parole Board have agreed to hear her case in October this year.
The timing means she could be released in time for Christmas, and insiders believe it could be likely.
A source said: “This could very well be the point she is trusted again.
“It has been a while of her serving a time, and she has admitted her part and took some responsibility. Maybe they will think it she is a changed woman?
“The problem is though, there are lots of people who think this is all part of her act. Time will tell.”
The Parole Board hearing will come a year after she spoke publicly for the first time about her tiny son’s horrific death and confessed: “I was selfish.”
Tracey Connelly, 44, mounted a fresh attempt to secure release in October last year but the case was postponed as Parole Board officials examined a file of evidence regarding her behaviour behind bars.
Now authorities have confirmed, despite numerous delays, they are expected to restart the hearing towards the end of the year and consider testimony across a range of both public and private sessions across two days to establish whether Connelly remains a danger to the public.
Last year Connelly acknowledged she refused to recognise that her cruel partner Steven Barker was harming little Peter before he perished in his blood-stained cot in 2007.
Confessing her “selfishness” caused the 17-month-old’s death, she revealed she was blinded by love, telling prison specialists she “wanted a Prince Charming”. Connelly faced a Parole Board panel to deliver her first public testimony about Peter’s death, more than 18 years after he died from a series of appalling injuries.
Declining to appear on camera while launching her bid for freedom, Connelly acknowledged that she continued to present a threat to children under her supervision. She told the hearing: “I was a bad mother. I failed to protect them. I put my needs first. I took all my anger out at the world on my children.”
The Parole Board confirmed the hearing is slated to take place on October 13 and 14.
Options open to the panel include allowing Connolly’s release or recommending her transfer to an open prison.
Connelly was sentenced in 2009 to a minimum term of five years after admitting causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter – known as Baby P – at their home in Tottenham, north London. He died on 3 August 2007 after months of abuse.
Her then boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were convicted of the same crime.
Connelly’s parole hearing is her seventh review for release and second review since she was recalled to prison in August last year – the second such recall – for breaching her licence conditions.
Peter Connelly suffered more than 50 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken back, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police officers and health professionals over eight
Connolly was first released on licence in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions. She was freed for a second time in July 2022 and recalled again two years later.