Baby P’s evil stepfather makes another bid for freedom ‘and could be walking free in months’

The stepfather of tortured toddler Baby P is making a new bid for freedom and could be released from prison within months.

Steven Barker, 48, has been referred to the Parole Board for a release for the sixth time.

It comes just six weeks after what would have been Peter Connelly’s 20th birthday.

Barker was jailed in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of the 17-month-old boy in Tottenham, north London, on August 3, 2007.

He – along with his lover Tracey Connelly and brother Jason Owen – tried to cover up the injuries inflicted on the youngster.

Little Peter suffered more than fifty wounds in eight months.

These include a broken back, broken ribs, mangled fingertips and missing fingernails.

Parole Board bosses made the referral in recent days. THey will then review Barker’s progress in jail and speak with officials he has been in contact with.

Steven Barker, 48, has been referred to the Parole Board for a release for the sixth time

The wounds suffered by Peter (pictured) included a broken back, broken ribs, mangled fingertips and missing fingernails

The Parole Board could decide to release him, hold a hearing for further checks or keep him in prison.

One source told The Mirror: ‘This referral has only just come in and will be looked at very closely. Baby P’s death shocked the nation. It was a horrible case. The idea that Barker is again eligible for parole and could be released is troubling.”

Barker was also given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years after being convicted of Baby P’s rape at a separate trial.

He was denied parole two years ago after continuing to deny the rape and claiming he had not harmed Peter.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘We can confirm that Steven Barker’s parole review has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and follows standard processes. The Parole Board’s decisions focus solely on the risk an inmate might pose to the public if released, and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

‘A panel will carefully examine a wide range of evidence, including details of the original crime and any evidence of change in behaviour, and examine the damage caused and the impact the crime has had on the victims. Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead-up to an oral hearing.

‘During the hearing, evidence may be given from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison and personal statements from the victim. It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing, which often lasts a full day or more. A parole review is conducted thoroughly and with the utmost care. Protecting the public is our first priority.”

It comes as Peter’s mother Tracey Connelly is set to resume her quest for freedom after speaking publicly for the first time last year.

It comes after Peter’s mother Tracey Connelly will resume her bid for freedom after speaking publicly for the first time last year

In October last year, she received her first review since her second recall to prison in August 2024.

The case was adjourned, but officials say it will reconvene later to determine whether she still poses a risk to the public.

Tracey Connelly was initially released in 2013, but was later recalled to prison in 2015 for violating her parole conditions.

She was released again in July 2022 after the parole board rejected three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

It was heard that she was ‘at low risk of offending again’ and that probation and prison officers supported the plan.

But after being jailed again in August last year for breaching license conditions, Connelly will now face a review.

The Parole Board received two requests to hold the October review in public, describing Connelly’s “landmark case” as “one of the most high-profile and devastating child protection failures in British history” that “permanently changed the conversation around safeguarding”, according to the judgment by Judge Peter Rook KC.

It was argued that the public still does not have access to the “real details”, citing that previous decisions surrounding parole and recall were made behind closed doors and that a public hearing would provide “critical context for a matter that remains of great importance to the public”.

An attorney for Connelly opposed the hearing being made public, saying it poses a risk to her safety and that there is a “substantial risk” that her identity will be compromised as “threats to her safety are real and present.”

Barker’s brother, Jason Owen, (pictured) was jailed for six years for allowing the toddler to die

The legal representative also said Connelly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression, and that a public hearing will “exacerbate” these problems and have a “significant and detrimental effect” on her evidence at the parole hearing.

But Judge Rook, speaking on behalf of the chairman of the Parole Board, said the lawyer acknowledged Connelly was “recovering well from these events.”

His judgment said Connelly suffered from “crime-related bullying and aggression” following her recall to prison, which “led to a decline in her mental health”, but the judge said she reportedly responded well, without resorting to violence, and has now been “stabilized”.

The judge granted the request to hold the October hearing in public, saying, “There can be no doubt that there is a substantial public interest in this matter.”

‘There is a strong public interest in the extent to which Ms Connelly currently poses a risk and, if so, what measures are proposed to manage this.’

Permission for Connelly to leave prison in 2022 came despite the Parole Board panel raising concerns about her ability to manipulate and deceive, and hearing evidence of how she became embroiled in prison romances and exchanged secret love letters with an inmate.

Then-Justice Secretary Dominic Raab appealed the decision, but a judge rejected his bid to keep her behind bars. Mr Raab condemned the move, saying at the time that it was evidence that the parole system needs a ‘fundamental overhaul’.

When Connelly was first released, she was subject to 20 licensing conditions, including wearing an electronic tag and making all her relationships public, monitoring her internet use and obeying the curfew.

She was also not allowed to go to certain places to ‘avoid contact with victims and protect children’.

The Parole Board said she was cleared because of the low risk of reoffending and that probation and prison officials supported the plan.

It will now be up to the Board of Directors to decide whether the latest breach of her conditions was so serious that she should not be released.