Couple named in Baby P case; CRIME: Tortured toddler Peter had suffered 50 injuries.

Byline: Shenai Raif

THE couple responsible for the death of Baby P were identified today after a court order giving them anonymity expired.

Tracey Connelly and her lover Steven Barker were responsible for the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly in his blood-spattered room in August 2007. He had suffered 50 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken back.

It can also be disclosed that the third defendant in the case, Jason Owen, 37, is Barker's brother.

And the Barker brothers' past does not stop at taunting and torturing a toddler. They were also accused of assaulting their own grandmother.

Connelly, who has four other children, is the daughter of a woman with drink and drug problems.

She was involved with social workers throughout her childhood and knew how to manipulate them.

She started a relationship with Peter's father, who was 17 years her senior, when she was just 16 having lied to him about her age. They went on to marry.

The Barkers - Owen changed his name after Peter's death to try to distance himself from the Baby P outrage - were charged with assaulting their grandmother Hilda Barker, 82, at her home in Whitstable, Kent, in 1995.

She told police they locked her in a wardrobe to make her change her will in their favour.

The case was dropped the following year, before the Barkers came to trial, after the frail grandmother died from pneumonia.

Connelly, 28, and Barker, 33, of Penshurst Road, Tottenham, north London, were sentenced in May for causing or allowing Peter's death.

They could not be named until now for legal reasons.

Father-of-four Owen was also jailed for the same offence, which took place while he was staying at Peter's home with his 15-year-old runaway lover.

In addition to Barker's presence at the house, social workers had also missed Owen and his girlfriend, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Doctors, social workers and police failed to save Peter despite him being on the Haringey Council child protection register.

All three defendants were cleared of murder. But Connelly pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of her son and the brothers were convicted of the same offence by the jury.

In May, Barker and Connelly were tried in secret for the rape of a twoyear-old girl just before Peter's death.

Barker was convicted of rape but Connelly was cleared of a child cru-eltcharge.

They were tried under the names of Young and Wilson to avoid the jury linking them to the Baby P case.

The brothers and Connelly were jailed later that month.

Barker was told he had played the major part in Peter's death and was given 12 years. He was also jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years for raping the girl.

Connelly was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of five years.

They are all said to be trying to appeal against their sentences.

CAPTION(S):

Young victim: Peter Connelly. Faces of evil: Baby Peter's mum Tracey Connelly (left) and her lover Steven Barker.