This is an accepted version of this page Peter Connelly (also known as "Baby P", "Child A",[1] and "Baby Peter", 1 March 2006 – 3 August 2007) was a 17-month-old British boy who was killed in London in 2007 after suffering more than fifty injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by the London Borough of Haringey Children's services and National Health Service (NHS) health professionals.
[4] The case caused shock and concern among the public and in Parliament, partly because of the magnitude of Peter's injuries, and partly because Peter had lived in the London Borough of Haringey, North London, under the same child welfare authorities that failed seven years earlier in the murder of Victoria Climbié,[5] which had been investigated by a public inquiry resulting in measures being put in place in an effort to prevent similar cases.
An order sought by Haringey Council to stop publication of the identities of his mother and her boyfriend was granted,[7] but expired on 10 August 2009.
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.
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".
[13] After attempts at resuscitation, he was taken to North Middlesex Hospital with his mother but was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m.[17] A post-mortem revealed he had swallowed a tooth after being punched.
[17] On 11 November 2008, Owen, 36, and his brother Barker, 32, were found guilty of "causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person".
[20] A second trial took place in April 2009, when Connelly and Barker, under aliases, faced charges related to the rape of a two-year-old girl.
[21] Their defence lawyers argued that this second trial was nearly undermined by bloggers publishing information linking them to the death of Peter, which could have prejudiced the jury.
The article claimed[36] that the executive summary of the SCR either conflicted with or omitted details about how the case had been handled and the extent of the injuries suffered by Peter.
It also noted among other issues that officials had not followed through with obtaining an interim care order that would have removed Peter from his home when they had agreed that legal grounds had existed for doing so six months before he died; key officials also failed to attend a 25 July 2007 meeting intended to decide if it would be necessary to remove Peter from his mother's home at that time.
[16] Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, ordered an external inquiry into Haringey Council Social Services.
[35] During a press conference that day, the Minister announced that, in an unusual move, he had used special powers to remove Sharon Shoesmith from her post as head of children's services at Haringey Council.
[35] She rejected calls for her resignation, saying that she wanted to continue to support her staff during the investigations,[41] but was dismissed on 8 December 2008 by Haringey Council, without any compensation package.
[42] Shoesmith later brought legal proceedings against Ed Balls, Ofsted, and Haringey Council, claiming that the decisions which led to her dismissal were unfair.
[46] Also announced on 1 December 2008 were the resignations of Labour Council leader George Meehan and councillor Liz Santry, cabinet member for Children and Young People.
[48][49] In April 2009, the council announced that its deputy director of children's services, two other managers, and a social worker, who had been suspended pending an enquiry, had also all been dismissed.
[50] Three further inquires were also ordered:[9] Through a lawyer acting on her behalf, a former social worker for Haringey, Nevres Kemal, sent a letter to the secretary of the Department of Health, Patricia Hewitt, in February 2007, six months before Peter's death.
[54] On 5 March 2012, Peter's biological father was awarded £75,000 in damages after The People wrongly stated in its 19 September 2010 edition that he was a convicted sex offender.