Killing of Peter Connelly

In September 2015, in a survey of 751 health visitors polled by the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, 47% thought it was somewhat likely or very likely that a similar death would recur.

On 5 March 2012, Peter's biological father was awarded £75,000 in damages after The People wrongly stated in its 19 September 2010 edition that he was a convicted sex offender. Lawyers for the man, known only as "KC", said that the publishers of The People were guilty of "one of the gravest libels imaginable". Publishers MGN had previously apologised and offered to pay damages.

Owen's sentence was changed on appeal to a fixed six-year term. He was released in August 2011, but later recalled to prison. Connelly was released on licence in 2013, but returned to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole; she became ineligible for review for two years. Barker had an application for parole turned down in August 2017. Connelly was refused parole for a third time in December 2019. In May 2022 it was reported that Connelly would be released from prison. On the 7th of July 2022 Connelly was given parole.

Peter's mother Tracey Connelly, her partner Steven Barker, and Jason Owen (later revealed to be Barker's brother) were all convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge. A court order issued by the High Court in England had prevented the publication of the identity of Baby P; this was lifted on 1 May 2009 by Justice Coleridge. An order sought by Haringey Council to stop publication of the identities of his mother and her boyfriend was granted, but expired on 10 August 2009.

A second trial took place in April 2009, when Connelly and Barker, under aliases, faced charges related to the rape of a two-year-old girl. The girl was also on Haringey's child protection register. Barker was found guilty of rape, while Connelly was found not guilty of child cruelty charges. Their defence lawyers argued that this second trial was nearly undermined by bloggers publishing information linking them to the death of Peter, which could have prejudiced the jury.

Sentencing for both trials together took place on 22 May 2009 at the Old Bailey. Connelly received a sentence of indefinite imprisonment for public protection, subject to a minimum term of five years. Barker was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape, with a minimum sentence of 10 years, and a 12-year sentence for his role in the death of Peter, to run concurrently. Owen was also jailed indefinitely, with a minimum term of three years. The sentences were criticised as too lenient by the NSPCC's chief executive, and the Attorney General considered referring them to the Court of Appeal for review, but concluded that there was "no realistic prospect" of the Court of Appeal increasing the sentences. The three appealed against their sentences, Barker against both convictions and sentences.

The Mail on Sunday on 15 March 2009 reported that details of the SCR had come into its possession. The article claimed that the executive summary of the SCR either conflicted with or omitted details about how the case had been handled and the extent of the injuries suffered by Peter. Furthermore, there were instances of mishandling by officials, missed and delayed meetings, miscommunication among officials, and a failure to follow through with decisions related to the child's safety. It also noted among other issues that officials had not followed through with obtaining an interim care order that would have removed Peter from his home when they had agreed that legal grounds had existed for doing so six months before he died; key officials also failed to attend a 25 July 2007 meeting intended to decide if it would be necessary to remove Peter from his mother's home at that time.

Lord Laming published his report, "The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report" on 12 March 2009. It stated that too many authorities had failed to adopt reforms introduced following his previous review into welfare following the murder of Victoria Climbié in 2000.

On 11 November 2008, Owen, 36, and his brother Barker, 32, were found guilty of "causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person". Connelly, 27, had already pleaded guilty to this charge. Earlier in the trial, Owen and Connelly had been cleared of murder because of insufficient evidence. Barker was found not guilty of murder by a jury.

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, ordered an external inquiry into Haringey Council Social Services. The inquiry was not to examine the 'Baby P' case explicitly, but to look into whether Haringey Social Services were following correct procedures in general. This report was presented to ministers on 1 December 2008. During a press conference that day, the Minister announced that, in an unusual move, he had used special powers to remove Sharon Shoesmith from her post as head of children's services at Haringey Council. She rejected calls for her resignation, saying that she wanted to continue to support her staff during the investigations, but was dismissed on 8 December 2008 by Haringey Council, without any compensation package. Shoesmith later brought legal proceedings against Ed Balls, Ofsted, and Haringey Council, claiming that the decisions which led to her dismissal were unfair. The High Court dismissed this claim in April 2010, although Shoesmith was still entitled to pursue an action for unfair dismissal in an employment tribunal. In May 2011, Shoesmith's appeal against her dismissal succeeded in the Court of Appeal; the Department of Education and Haringey Council said they intended to appeal to the Supreme Court against this decision. Their applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court were refused on 1 August 2011. It was reported by BBC News on 29 October 2013 that Sharon Shoesmith agreed to a six-figure payout for unfair dismissal.

Also announced on 1 December 2008 were the resignations of Labour Council leader George Meehan and councillor Liz Santry, cabinet member for Children and Young People. These councillors had previously refused calls for their resignation during a 24 November council meeting. In April 2009, the council announced that its deputy director of children's services, two other managers, and a social worker, who had been suspended pending an enquiry, had also all been dismissed.

In June 2007, a social worker observed marks on Peter and informed the police. A medical examination concluded that the bruising was the result of child abuse. On 4 June, the baby was placed with a friend for safeguarding. On 25 July, Haringey Council's Children & Young People's Service obtained legal advice which indicated that the "threshold for initiating Care Proceedings...was not met".

On 1 August 2007, Peter was seen at St Ann's Hospital in North London by locum paediatrician Sabah Al-Zayyat. Serious injuries, including a broken back and broken ribs, very likely went undetected, as the post-mortem report believed these to have pre-dated Al-Zayyat's examination. A day later, Connelly was informed that she would not be prosecuted.

Through a lawyer acting on her behalf, a former social worker for Haringey, Nevres Kemal, sent a letter to the secretary of the Department of Health, Patricia Hewitt, in February 2007, six months before Peter's death. The letter contained an allegation that child protection procedures were not being followed in Haringey. Hewitt took no action, except to forward the letter to the DES, now the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Haringey Council then took out an injunction against Kemal, banning her from speaking about child care in Haringey. Kemal's lawyer stated, "Hewitt bounced us onto the DES... the DES then advised us to write to the Commission for Social Care Inspection whom we had written to on the same day as we had written to Hewitt, copying in the letter to Hewitt and the relevant material. By that time of course they had an injunction against us so we couldn't go back to the inspectorate. The inspectorate had been properly advised at the time and had done nothing."

Peter Connelly (also known as "Baby P", "Child A", and "Baby Peter", 1 March 2006 – 3 August 2007) was a 17-month-old British boy who was killed in London in 2007 after suffering more than fifty injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by the London Borough of Haringey Children's services and National Health Service (NHS) health professionals. Baby P's real first name was revealed as "Peter" on the conclusion of a subsequent trial of Peter's mother's boyfriend on a charge of raping a two-year-old. His full identity was revealed when his killers were named after the expiry of a court anonymity order on 10 August 2009.

Peter Connelly was born to Tracey Connelly on 1 March 2006. His biological father left the family home a few months later. In November, Connelly's new boyfriend Steven Barker moved in with her. In December, a general practitioner noticed bruises on Peter's face and chest. His mother was arrested and Peter was put into the care of a family friend, but returned home to his mother's care in January 2007. Over the next few months, Peter was admitted to hospital on two occasions suffering from injuries including bruising, scratches and swelling on the side of the head. Connelly was arrested again in May 2007.

Kim Holt, a consultant paediatrician, who worked in a clinic run by Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital at St Ann's Hospital in Haringey, north London, said she and three colleagues wrote an open letter detailing problems at the clinic in 2006. She claimed Peter could have been saved if managers had listened to fears raised by senior doctors.

The child protection services of Haringey and other agencies were widely criticised. Following the conviction, three inquiries and a nationwide review of social service care were launched, and the Head of Children's Services at Haringey was removed at the direction of the government minister. Another nationwide review was conducted by Lord Laming into his own recommendations concerning the murder of Victoria Climbié in 2000. The death was also the subject of debate in the House of Commons.