Parents Against Injustice
Parents Against Injustice
Baby P's killer is demanding a new ID so he can live by the sea... and he wants YOU to pay
Baby P's killer is demanding a new ID so he can live by the sea... and he wants YOU to pay
- Jason Owen to be out of prison in six weeks
By Rebecca Camber and Nick Fagge
Last updated at 2:13 AM on 24th June 2011
'Innocent': Jason Owen is claiming that he had nothing to do with Baby P's death
The paedophile jailed over the death of Baby P will be free in six weeks and is demanding an expensive new identity.
Jason Owen, 39, who was convicted of causing or allowing the death of Peter Connelly, wants taxpayers to pay for plastic surgery so he can ‘start a new life’ under a different name.
The arsonist and former crack addict will walk free on the fourth anniversary of the death. Yesterday his victim’s family reacted with fury on learning the sadistic lodger wants help to get a seaside council house for his girlfriend and his five children.
At Wandsworth Prison he has told other offenders he is innocent and deserves a fresh start when he is released so that he can work as a personal trainer.
Yesterday Baby P’s grandfather Richard Johnson said: ‘He should be locked up for life. It’s a crazy system that allows someone convicted over the death of a child to walk free after such a short time.
‘Why is it that my beautiful grandson is lying dead and buried in the ground, yet one of the monsters responsible for killing him will soon be walking around as happy as can be?
‘To this day my grandson is still being let down by the authorities. There’s no justice whatsoever and it makes my blood boil to think he’s got off so lightly.’
Owen, a member of the National Front, and his brother Steven Barker, 35, who was Baby P’s stepfather, were both convicted of causing or allowing the child’s death in 2008. The toddler’s mother Tracey Connelly, 30, pleaded guilty to the same offence.
Neglected: Baby P was found dead in his cot and had 50 separate injuries
Speaking from his home in Leicester, Mr Johnson said: ‘He robbed me of my only grandson and I’ll never forgive him, or my own daughter and her partner, for that.
‘A new identity would be a total waste of taxpayers’ money. He doesn’t deserve to hide behind a new face and name. He should walk the streets in shame.’
A relative of Peter Connelly’s biological father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘The idea that someone involved in one of the most notorious crimes in recent history will be released from jail after serving less than four years makes British justice look like a joke.’
The cost of providing Owen with a secret identity could run to £250,000.
Officers would have to provide him with a new name, national insurance number and passport when he is released in August. There would also be housing and benefits payments.
A source close to Owen’s family said: ‘He reckons he never had anything to do with what went on with Peter and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is why he should be able to start a new life with no one knowing who he is.
‘He and his missus talk all the time about getting set up in a nice big council house near the beach.
Convicted: Baby P's mother Tracey Connelly (left) and Owen's brother, Steven Barker (right) were both jailed over the youngster's death
‘He thinks he is like those boys that killed Jamie Bulger and his life will be at risk.’ Yesterday the Ministry of Justice refused to discuss the case, but sources said it was rare to give defendants a new identity.
Owen has received death threats in jail and his lawyers are expected to argue that his notoriety means he would be at risk of harm if he were not protected. Among the high-profile criminals who have received new identities are Maxine Carr, 31, the former girlfriend of Soham killer Ian Huntley.
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, and Mary Bell, who was 11 when she was convicted of killing two boys in 1968, were also given new identities. Baby P was found dead in his blood-spattered cot in August 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries, including a snapped spine and eight broken ribs.
He had been placed on a protection register eight months before his death and social workers, doctors and health visitors saw him 60 times, but failed to halt his abuse.
An Old Bailey judge ordered that Owen should be jailed indefinitely to protect the public, but the Appeal Court cut his sentence to six years in October 2009 because he did not pose a ‘significant’ risk. He is not on the sex offenders register and his automatic release in August raises the prospect he will be able to offend again.
Although never charged, Owen had been investigated for alleged sex attacks on other children.
He is likely to be under supervision for three years and prevented from contacting Barker and Connelly or from entering Haringey, the North London borough where the killing took place.
Also under consideration is a clause obliging him to report to his probation officer any relationship with a woman or a child.
Add a Comment
© 2024 Created by Alison J Stevens.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Parents Against Injustice to add comments!
Join Parents Against Injustice