Killer foster mother called baby ‘whingebag’
Woman found guilty of murdering one-year-old she ‘did not love’ and ‘struggled to bond with’
A FOSTER mother who called her baby a “moaning whingebag” before killing the one-year-old had told social workers she did not love him.
Laura Castle, 38, was yesterday found guilty of murder after claiming that Leiland-james Corkill had fallen off the sofa and hit his head.
The child had been placed with Laura Castle and her husband Scott Castle, 35, by authorities in Cumbria less than five months before his death.
Leiland-james was a “looked-after child”, meaning he had been in the care of his local authority for more than 24 hours, and was taken into care at birth before he was approved to live with his prospective adoptive parents from August 2020.
Laura Castle rang for an ambulance on the morning of Jan 6 last year and said that Leiland-james had fallen off the sofa and was struggling to breathe.
However, hospital medics raised concerns as the extent of his injuries did not match her account.
The child died the following day as Castle maintained to police, as well as family and friends, that the death was a tragic accident while her husband, a night-shift worker, was asleep.
She stuck to her story until the day the jury at Preston Crown Court was sworn in last month for her trial when she pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Her new version of events was that she had shaken the baby after he had not stopped crying at breakfast and his head hit the armrest of the sofa before he fell off her knee on to the floor. But medical experts told the court that the degree of force required to cause the injuries would have been “severe” and likely to be a combination of shaking and an impact with a solid surface.
Michael Brady QC, prosecuting, said it was the Crown’s case she killed the boy as she lost her temper and suggested she smashed the back of his head against a piece of furniture.
The former care worker denied intending to kill Leiland-james or seriously harm him but jurors took two-and-a-half hours yesterday to convict her of murder.
She was also convicted of child cruelty against Leiland-james. Sentencing will take place next Wednesday.
Scott Castle was found not guilty of allowing Leiland-james’s death and was also cleared of child cruelty.
He said he never had any concerns that anything bad was going to happen.
The Castles had been selected by an adoption panel following an application process overseen by Cumbria children’s services department, the court heard.
In November 2020, concerns were raised after Laura Castle said during a home visit she did not love the baby and was struggling to bond with him.
The following month, the Castles were told by a senior social worker she would not support any application to formally adopt Leiland-james at that stage and recommended further therapeutic parenting sessions.
The possibility of removing the baby from their care was canvassed, but Castle said her extended family loved him so he was “not going anywhere”.
Detectives found texts sent to her husband that referred to the baby as “k---head”, “d---” and “s---bag”, while her husband said the baby was a “fat s---” as well as other expletive insults.
Castle said the texts reflected her “sense of humour” and should not be taken literally, while Mr Castle said he was now “ashamed” at sending the messages but he did not mean malice and was trying to sympathise with his wife.
Cumbria county council said an independent review was taking place and is due to report back in July.
John Readman, the council’s executive director for people, said: “We are deeply sorry for Leiland’s death, it should not have happened. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his birth family. Abuse of a child by adopters is almost unheard of and we are determined to do everything we can to prevent this happening again.”
‘We are deeply sorry for Leiland’s death, it should not have happened. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his birth family’