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The mother of tragic Baby P has admitted in a parole hearing that she was a "bad mother" to her children, and that they "deserved a whole lot better than me". Tracey Connelly was jailed in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in north London on August 3 2007. Her then boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were convicted of the same crime. Giving evidence to her public parole hearing off camera, Connelly said she "knew deep down" that Barker had been abusing her son but she wanted her "Prince Charming" - and her children "paid for that". Asked if she perceived herself as being a risk to children, Connelly replied: "Children in my care? Yes. "Given how bad I was at it, I have to always accept that there is always a risk if I am left looking after children, which I can't see ever being the case. Am I a risk to children walking down the street? No." Speaking of how she had acted as a parent, Connelly admitted: "I was a bad mother. "I failed to protect them, I put my needs first, I took all my anger at the world on my older children. I didn't give them what they needed and they deserve a whole lot better than me." Connelly, who is now in her 40s, told the panel she would not enter into a relationship with someone who had regular contact with children. She added: "I don't want to be around other people's children or grandchildren." Little Baby P - Peter - suffered more than 50 injuries, including a broken back and ribs, despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, police officers and health professionals over eight months. Asked about her approach to motherhood, Connelly said: "I was going through a very emotional time, it's no excuse, I wasn't taking my antidepressants, I wasn't well. It doesn't justify or excuse any of my behaviour, I wasn't emotionally available to be the mum that my children deserved." Connelly also admitted to slapping her children, and said: "I used to do it if they misbehaved. The reality is that it was more when I wasn't coping. There’s no point trying to say they were naughty, so I slapped them; it was easier for me to slap them rather than deal with it and try to explain like a proper mother would have done." Connelly told the hearing that her childhood had been "torture", and further said of her parenting: "I failed to protect them, I put my needs first. I took all my anger at the world on my older children, I didn't give them what they needed – and they deserved a whole lot better than me. "Unfortunately, as to having me as a mother, they have endured similar tortures that I went through. While I'd have loved to be a mother that broke the cycle, I was a mother that perpetuated the cycle." She added: "They were stuck in a worse situation that allowed my son to die." 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 but recalled again last year after she started a relationship with a man she had met online, without telling the officials who were supervising her. Wednesday's hearing was told the situation "closely mirrored" the circumstances of her first recall, as well as her conduct in custody, where she had also developed intimate relationships. The parole hearing panel was told by her prison offender manager (POM) that Connelly had deleted material from her phone to avoid officials finding out about her relationship, which led to her second recall. The panel's chairwoman, Sally Allbeury, said Connelly was "perfectly entitled" to get involved in any kind of relationship she wanted, but that she must be open about it. Options open to the panel include allowing Connolly's release or recommending her transfer to an open prison. Her prison offender manager (POM) is recommending she should be released with a management plan.
