Baby P’s mum has been denied a Christmas release from jail after a Parole Board decision due to take place this week was put back to the new year.
She is currently being held at a top security prison, HM Prison Low Newton, near Brasside in County Durham.
Tracey Connelly, 40, would have been out within weeks if the panel had agreed to her plea, the Mirror reports.
She appeared before the board earlier this month begging to be let go, saying she was no longer a danger to the public.
But a source revealed the panel needed more information before giving their verdict, meaning she will have to wait until the new year to be heard.
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The source said: “Her case is so emotive that the Parole Board has asked for more information about the psychological assessments she has been taking in prison before a decision is reached.
“This does not mean the board is minded to rubber-stamp her release, it just means that there are some questions that require answers before a conclusion is reached.”
Connelly’s 17-month-old son Peter died in 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries at the hands of her partner Steven Barker and his paedophile brother Jason Owen over an eight-month period.
The toddler, who was on Haringey Council’s at-risk register, was found dead in his blood-stained cot at his mother’s London flat after 60 visits from social workers and police.
Connelly was jailed after pleading guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person in 2008. She was released in 2013 but was locked up again two years later after breaking the terms of her parole by selling indecent photographs of herself to ghouls.
The Parole Board today confirmed that its decision had been delayed from this week’s expected date.
It added: “Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
It was Connelly’s fourth attempt to plead for prison release at a Parole Board hearing. If it is unsuccessful she will face two more years behind bars. Her three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019 were all refused.
Documents submitted to her last failed hearing in 2019 read: “The panel listed risk factors associated with Ms Connelly at the time of offending.
“These had included not managing certain aspects of her personality, not having anywhere suitable to live, problems with relationships, her way of life, her antisocial friends, unhelpful beliefs and ways of thinking, alcohol misuse and use of illegal drugs.”
