Evil stepdad who tortured and killed Baby P could be free 'within months'

Steven Barker, the evil stepfather who tortured Baby P to death, could be out of prison in just months after making a new bid for parole, reports say.

Barker, 47, had been handed a 12-year jail sentence for his role in his stepson Peter Connelly’s – Baby P’s – death in 2007 alongside his brother Jason Owen and the boy’s mother, Tracy Connelly.

Baby P had been just 17 months old when he was found dead, having received over 50 injuries – including a broken back and fractured ribs.

Barker also received a concurrent life sentence, with a minimum term of 10 years, for the rape of a two-year-old girl.

But, just days after what would have been the boy’s 18th birthday, the vile stepfather is looking to obtain parole, according to reports in the Mirror.

Sources said a new parole hearing could take place “within months”, and would be Barker’s fifth bid for freedom during his prison stay.

His last bid was denied after psychiatrists said Barker had not engaged in mental treatment programmes.

The Baby P case rocked the nation in 2007 when it emerged that authorities had visited the child’s home almost 60 times in the last eight months of his life.

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Peter Connelly was on the at-risk register, a review found, and the realisation that officials could have saved the boy’s life sparked outrage.

Nevres Kemal, a social worker, said she had warned bosses about Baby P six months before his death, but higher-ups took no action.

Kemal, speaking to the Mirror, said: “Barker has never shown any remorse and has no shame.

“This is outrageous – it was prolonged and systematic abuse. It is deeply shocking to think he could be released.

“How can anybody like this return to society when they have carried out the most heinous crime against the most vulnerable in society?”

Baby P’s mother, 41, had been released from prison in 2022, which sparked considerable backlash – not least from the then-Justice Secretary Dominic Raab.

At the time, Raab said: “Tracey Connelly’s cruelty was pure evil, which is why I strongly opposed her release.

Since Baby P’s death in Haringey, North London, at least 884 children have died in similar circumstances to his, recent data shows.

A Parole Board spokesperson told GB News: “He hasn't been referred to the Parole Board at this time. The case was last referred to us in 2022 where his review was concluded with no direction for release.

“The secretary of state must re-refer to the Parole Board every 2 years as it was rejected in 2022. We don't have an active review with us now.”