Baby P family anger as killer is back in jail for breaking his parole
One of the three people jailed over
the death of Baby P was back behind bars last night after breaching the
conditions of his parole.
Jason Owen was freed on licence in 2011 after serving half his six-year sentence for causing or allowing Peter Connelly to die.
It emerged yesterday that the 41-year-old was returned to prison after being caught in an area from which he had been banned. Police have refused to reveal the circumstances surrounding his arrest, but Peter’s relatives have demanded an explanation.
One said: ‘It is hardly a surprise. The authorities should now come clean and tell us exactly why he is back inside.’
Baby P suffered 50 injuries, including a broken back, before he died in August 2007 at the age of 17 months.
The attacks took place while Owen, a convicted arsonist, crack addict and National Front member, was lodging with his brother Steven Barker and the boy’s mother Tracey Connelly in Tottenham, north London.
The case sparked a national scandal after it emerged how social workers, police and doctors all missed a string of warning signs that could have saved the youngster’s life.
Officials assigned to Peter did not ask about Barker, who was Connelly’s boyfriend, even when she listed him as next of kin.
Had they done so, they would have discovered he had been suspected of torturing his grandmother.
Social workers considered the child’s care to be ‘a routine, low-risk case’ and were too scared to confront Connelly. Owen, who was jailed in 2009 along with Barker and Connelly for ‘causing or allowing’ Peter’s killing, is now in his own cell at Category C Stafford Prison.
The prison has a special wing holding 84 ‘vulnerable’ inmates, including sex offenders and child abusers. After his release two years ago, Owen was photographed walking down the street in smart new clothes, looking relaxed, slim and fit.
As he headed back to a hostel for
high-risk offenders, a provocative tattoo could be read on his right arm
that said ‘only God can judge me’.
Sources said he threw himself into an extreme fitness regime behind bars, including runs of up to eight miles.
Owen had demanded plastic surgery and a new identity on his release from Wandsworth Prison. He also wanted a seaside council house with his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his five children.
But none of his demands were met and he has struggled to keep a low profile in a bid to avoid reprisal attacks.
His return to jail is another painful turn in one of the darkest chapters in the history of social care.
Inquiries, official reports and court hearings have laid bare how Baby Peter was failed by the authorities at every turn, despite 60 visits to his home.
Jason Owen was freed on licence in 2011 after serving half his six-year sentence for causing or allowing Peter Connelly to die.
It emerged yesterday that the 41-year-old was returned to prison after being caught in an area from which he had been banned. Police have refused to reveal the circumstances surrounding his arrest, but Peter’s relatives have demanded an explanation.
One said: ‘It is hardly a surprise. The authorities should now come clean and tell us exactly why he is back inside.’
Baby P suffered 50 injuries, including a broken back, before he died in August 2007 at the age of 17 months.
The attacks took place while Owen, a convicted arsonist, crack addict and National Front member, was lodging with his brother Steven Barker and the boy’s mother Tracey Connelly in Tottenham, north London.
The case sparked a national scandal after it emerged how social workers, police and doctors all missed a string of warning signs that could have saved the youngster’s life.
Officials assigned to Peter did not ask about Barker, who was Connelly’s boyfriend, even when she listed him as next of kin.
Had they done so, they would have discovered he had been suspected of torturing his grandmother.
Social workers considered the child’s care to be ‘a routine, low-risk case’ and were too scared to confront Connelly. Owen, who was jailed in 2009 along with Barker and Connelly for ‘causing or allowing’ Peter’s killing, is now in his own cell at Category C Stafford Prison.
The prison has a special wing holding 84 ‘vulnerable’ inmates, including sex offenders and child abusers. After his release two years ago, Owen was photographed walking down the street in smart new clothes, looking relaxed, slim and fit.
Peter's mother, Tracey Connelly (right), and her
boyfriend Steven Barker were also jailed in
2009 for causing or allowing the toddler's death
Sources said he threw himself into an extreme fitness regime behind bars, including runs of up to eight miles.
Owen had demanded plastic surgery and a new identity on his release from Wandsworth Prison. He also wanted a seaside council house with his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his five children.
But none of his demands were met and he has struggled to keep a low profile in a bid to avoid reprisal attacks.
His return to jail is another painful turn in one of the darkest chapters in the history of social care.
Inquiries, official reports and court hearings have laid bare how Baby Peter was failed by the authorities at every turn, despite 60 visits to his home.
