Couple named in Baby P abuse case

LONDON (AFP) – The mother and stepfather of Baby P, whose death after months of brutal abuse shocked the country, were officially named Tuesday after the lifting of a court order.

Tracey Connelly and her lover Steven Barker were jailed in May this year over the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly whose body was found in his blood spattered cot at his London home in 2007.

The names of the couple, and details of their background, were released after a High Court court order protecting their anonymity expired at midnight Monday following an application by media organisations.

Newspapers here posted photographs of the pair on their front pages along with disturbing details of the case, which sparked outrage in Britain and triggered an urgent review of childcare policy.

The toddler who had been known as Baby P for legal reasons suffered fractured ribs and a broken back among more than 50 injuries.

When he died, a fingernail and toenail were missing, having been ripped out in some form or torture, evidence to the court during the original case showed.

Social workers, doctors and police failed to spot the abuse despite seeing the toddler at least 60 times over eight months.

Connelly, 28, who has married at 16 and has four other children, was jailed for at least five years for failing to prevent her son Peter's death.

Barker, 33, received 12 years for his role in the killing.

New details show Barker and his brother were charged with assaulting their own 82-year-old grandmother in 1995. The grandmother told police they locked her in a wardrobe to make her change her will in their favour.

She later died from pneumonia and the case was dropped.

The brother, 37, was a lodger at the London home with Barker and Connelly, along with his fifteen-year-old girlfriend. He was also subsequently jailed for his role in the toddler's death.

They lived in a filthy house in Haringey with their three dogs, including a rottweiler which was used to terrify Peter.

Barker was a "a bit backward" and a keen collector of Nazi memorabilia. Police found a number of knives in the house, along with a German helmet and a swastika.

Connelly, who had been involved with social workers throughout her own childhood, spent her days at the home on the Internet, drinking alcohol and watching pornography instead of nurturing her son.

Connelly and Barker were also tried in May this year in secret for the rape of a two-year-old girl just before Peter's death. Barker was convicted of rape but Connelly was cleared of a child cruelty charge.

The judge in the Baby P case described Connelly as a "manipulative and self-centred person, with a calculating side as well as a temper", who had "actively deceived" the authorities in order to protect her boyfriend.

Experts said Tuesday the pair could need police protection and possibly new identities for their own safety when they were released from prison, given the public fury over the case.