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Three jailed over 'Baby P' death
Three people charged with allowing for causing the death of a 17 month-old child in England have been jailed for terms ranging from three to twelve years.
The mother of Baby P will be jailed indefinitely until "deemed no longer to be a risk to the public and in particular to small children".
Her 32-year-old boyfriend, identified in the media as Baby P’s “stepfather” was jailed for 12 years for his part in the little boy’s death and will serve a minimum of 10 years. His sentence will run concurrently with another sentence of ten years for raping a two-year-old girl.
A lodger in the house, Jason Owen was jailed for a minimum of 3 years for causing or allowing the death of the child.
During the trial, the court heard the toddler was used as a "punch bag" and suffered a broken back and over 40 horrific injuries during a campaign of domestic violence.
"You are a manipulative and self-centred person, with a calculating side as well as a temper," Judge Stephen Kramer told the mother. "I reject the suggestion that you were blind to what was happening in that house or that you were naive."
The mother, 27, begged the judge for mercy yesterday as she apologised for “letting down” her “darling” son.
"Your conduct over the months prevented Peter from being seen by social services. You actively deceived the authorities. You acted selfishly because your priority was your relationship with (the boyfriend)."
Baby P, who can now be named as Peter, was 17 months old when he was found dead in a blood-spattered cot in August 2007 having suffered a broken back and fractured ribs.
He had more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over eight months.
The mother, her boyfriend, 32, and their lodger, Jason Owen, 37, of Bromley, Kent, face up to 14 years in jail for causing or allowing Peter’s death.
The mother pleaded guilty to the offence - and her term will also be reduced by the 21 months she has already spent in custody. Peter’s mother wrote a letter to the judge from prison that was read aloud in court yesterday. In it she said sorry for the pain and suffering she had caused and begged her family, including Peter’s natural father, for forgiveness.
Her hand-written letter - which was littered with mistakes - read: “I except (sic) I failed my son Peter for which I have pleaded guilty. By not being fully open with social services I stopped them from being able to do a full job. As a direct result of this, my son got hurt and sadly lost his short life. Im (sic) never going to see my lovely son grow in to the lovely, sweet man I believe he would have been... I have lost all I hold dear to me. Now every day of my life is full of guilt and trying to come to terms with my failure as a mother. I punish myself on a daily basis and there is not a day that goes by where I don’t cry at some point.”
Peter’s natural father told the Old Bailey yesterday of his horror at the knowledge that the little boy suffered months of pain, fear and loneliness before his death. He said his life had become a “living nightmare” since losing his son.
In a victim impact statement the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told of the moment he was confronted with his son’s lifeless body in a north London hospital. He said: “I could not believe what was happening. I could not believe it was my son. “He appeared to be asleep, and I just wanted to pick him up and take him home. But there was nothing I could do for him. I kissed him on his forehead and said goodbye. My son was gone forever.” The father added: “My only son must have suffered weeks, if not months, of pain, fear and loneliness. No human being, especially a child, deserves to suffer like Peter suffered in the last days and weeks of his life.”
Peter’s death sparked an outpouring of public anger and led to strong criticism of the social workers, police officers and health professionals responsible for protecting him.
Five employees of Haringey Council in north London, including children’s services director Sharon Shoesmith, were sacked and the General Medical Council has suspended two doctors involved in the case.
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