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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
John Siddle & Phil Cardy

Baby P's monster mum becomes friends with child killer who smothered daughter, 3

Baby P's monster mum Tracey Connelly has made a new friend at her halfway house – a killer who smothered her three-year-old daughter.

Evil Connelly, 41, whose appalling cruelty to her toddler son Peter repulsed the nation, was pictured out shopping while listening to music on headphones.

She is now pals with Helen Caudwell, who suffocated daughter Bethany with a Piglet pyjama case before trying to kill herself.

Caudwell is out on licence, and staying at the same hostel as Connelly.

Staff have told fellow ­residents at the taxpayer-funded digs in the north of England to “be nice” to Connelly.

Baby Peter died after months of abuse (PA)

A source said: “Tracey and Helen are mates… they’re always talking to each other.

“Tracey very rarely leaves the building. A couple of girls have been warned not to bully her. They’re told not to judge each other’s crimes.

“They hate what she did but they just have to live with it. If they say anything, they’re threatened with being recalled to prison.

“There are normal girls in there along with child killers. They just have to accept it. If Tracey does go out, she wears a mask or puts her hood up. She’s on a tag. But she just spends most of her time lounging around.”

Connelly's cruelty to her toddler son Peter repulsed the nation (PA)
Helen Caudwell smothered her three-year-old daughter (PA)

Connelly was jailed indefinitely in 2009 after admitting causing or allowing the death of 17-month-old Peter. The toddler, originally referred to in court as Baby P for legal reasons, suffered more than 50 horrifying injuries at his home in Tottenham, North London, in the eight months before his death.

Connelly’s lover Steven Barker was jailed for at least 32 years for torturing Peter to death, while his brother Jason Owen received a six-year term for allowing the tot to die.

Caudwell, of Cheadle Heath, Gtr Manchester, was ordered to serve a minimum of eight years when she was jailed for life in 2010 for killing Bethany.

Caudwell, now 54, had been fighting to stop her estranged second husband having contact with Bethany when the murder took place.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer David Harley told the Manchester crown court trial that Caudwell “knew exactly what she was doing.”

Little Bethany was killed by her mother (Copyright Cavendish Press)

Afterwards, police said: “We might never know for sure why Caudwell committed this most unnatural of crimes. It has devastated a family.”

Connelly was ordered to serve at least five years when she was jailed in 2009. She was first released in 2013 but was recalled to prison in 2015.

She allegedly breached her licence by selling naked photos of herself and “developing intimate personal relationships” online.

The parole board cleared her for release last year due to a low risk of reoffending. She has 20 licence conditions, including wearing a tag and having to declare new relationships.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We do not comment on ­individuals.”

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