Justice Secretary Dominic Raab under fire as mum of tragic Baby P to be released from jail
03.04.2022 - 07:03
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab was last night facing serious questions over why his department did not oppose a decision to free the mother of tragic Baby P.
The Parole Board approved the release of Tracey Connelly last month. Paperwork seen by our sister paper the Sunday Mirror states a junior official acting on behalf of Raab “confirmed that this recommendation was accepted”.
Yet 14 days later, following public fury at the news, Raab dramatically told Parliament that he would fight the decision to let the notorious mother out.
Baby P – 17-month-old Peter Connelly – died in agony, suffering a fractured spine and eight broken ribs in 2007. Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen were all jailed.
Insiders say the parole row U-turn has sparked rage at the Ministry of Justice, with Raab insisting his position was “miscommunicated”.
But senior sources are concerned why he did not give a direct briefing to the junior official from the public protection casework department.
And Labour’ s Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said: “When Dominic Raab stood up in the House of Commons and demanded the Parole Board reconsider the decision to release of Tracey Connelly, he didn’t tell us his department had agreed to her release in the first place.
“The sheer hypocrisy of it stinks. The British public will be alarmed about Raab’s plans to take more control over prisoner releases after his flip-flopping in this most notorious of cases. Raab talks tough but this shows yet again he and this Conservative Government are soft to the core on crime.”
A Government source said: “If Raab feels so strongly, why didn’t he ensure his representative at the hearing was aware of his feelings about the risk Connelly posed? Why