Biography
Peter Connelly was born to Tracey Connelly on 1 March 2006. In November, Connelly's new boyfriend, Steven Barker, moved in with her. In December, a GP noticed bruises on Peter's face and chest. His mother was arrested and Peter was put into the care of a family friend, but returned home to his mother's care in January 2007. Over the next few months, Peter was admitted to hospital on two occasions suffering from injuries including bruising, scratches and swelling on the side of the head. Connelly was arrested again in May 2007.
In June 2007, a social worker observed marks on Peter and informed the police. A medical examination concluded that the bruising was due to abuse. On 4 June, the baby was placed with a friend for safeguarding. Over a month later, on 25 July, Haringey Council's Children & Young People's Service obtained legal advice which indicated that the "threshold for initiating Care Proceedings...was not met".
On 1 August 2007, Baby Peter was seen at St. Ann's Hospital in north London by locum paediatrician Dr. Sabah Al-Zayyat. Serious injuries, including a broken back and broken ribs, very likely went undetected (the autopsy report believed these to have pre-dated Al-Zayyat's examination). A day later, Connelly was informed that she would not be prosecuted.
The next day, an ambulance was called and Peter was found in his cot, blue and clad only in a nappy. After attempts at resuscitation, he was taken to North Middlesex hospital with his mother but was pronounced dead at 12:20 pm. A post-mortem revealed he had swallowed a tooth after being punched. Other injuries included a broken back, broken ribs, mutilated fingertips and fingernails missing.
The police immediately began a murder investigation and Baby P's mother was arrested. So too were Barker, his brother Jason Owen and his 15-year-old girlfriend, who had fled to and were hiding in a campsite in Epping Forest.
Read more about this topic: Death Of Baby P
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