Child Murderers: Jason Owen, Tracey Connelly nee Cox, Stephen Barker.
Peters murderers, his mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend Stephen Barker, and his brother Jason Owen, were not chareged with murder or manslaughter because each blamed the others. They were instead convicted of ‘causing or allowing the death of a child’ and each recieved:
- Stephen Barker: 12 years
- Tracey Connelly: An indeterminate sentence eligable for parole in 3 years.
- Jason Owen: An indeterminate sentence with a minimum of 3 years, eligable for parole in 2.
Barker was also charged with rape of a 2 year old, and Tracey Connelly for child cruelty for witnessing the attack yet doing nothing to stop it. Barker was found guilty and sentenced to life with a minimum of 10 years, to run concurrently with his sentence for Peters death, meaning he will be ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE IN 8 YEARS. Connelly was aquitted. The jury was unaware of their role in Peters death, to ensure a fair trial.
Does anyone think this is justice? All that Peters short life, full of pain and suffering, is worth? What message does this send to society?
Every time i read this story, it breaks my heart again. I just don’t understand how. Why? How? How could Peter have been failed so completely, so many times, by so many people?
I wish i could change things for him. I wish i could go back in time, rescue him and his siblings and love them all. But i can’t.
I wish i could be certain, or at the very least, have some faith that ‘lessons have been learnt’ and things have changed enough to prevent this happening again. But i don’t.
Things are still exactly the same. The statistics for child death because of abuse (1-4 a week in the UK) have remained the same for 60 years, despite ‘child protection’. It’s just not working, and it is only a matter of time before another child suffers the horrendous torture beautiful Peter did.
The governments of the world are afraid to genuinely tackle this issue because:
- They do not want to admit that their system has and is currently failing children all over the country, who deserved better.
- They do not want to commit the many billions of pounds needed to investigate, understand and change the inherent problems in the system, particularly since such reform would be long term, and so will not be measurable by re-election time.
- They do not want to commit to the work involved – this would be a long and laborious process, but it is the ONLY way to ensure the safety of the vast majority of children.
- They are ashamed and embarrassed to admit that the child protection system in the UK is absolutely unfit for purpose.
Not all child murders are preventable, we will never completely wipe it out. But children who are killed by their caregivers should be in the very small and shocking minority. It should not be a weekly coinsurance Peters death was certainly preventable, as was Victoria Climbies, a few streets away and a few years before him.
There will only be REAL CHANGE, not just lip service, when we DEMAND IT.
In peters memory, demand change now.
Join us today and take action against abuse. There are so many things you can do. Small things (share the page, sign petitions, talk to your friends) and bigger things (fundraise, volunteer, foster, attend a protest) – PLEASE HELP US IN EVERY WAY YOU CAN TO PREVENT CHILD ABUSE.
Children all over the world are depending on people like you to end their suffering.
Thank you.
~ A.A.A
Action Against Abuse 