Woman accused of murder admitted using force on baby

A SOCIAL worker was “shocked” when a woman accused of murdering a baby boy she had hoped to adopt admitted she had used physical force on him.

Laura Castle, 38, made the confession as one-year-old Leilandjames Corkill was on a life-support machine in hospital with catastrophic head injuries, Preston Crown Court heard.

The youngster had been living with his prospective adoptive parents Castle and her husband, Scott, 35, when emergency services were called to their home in Barrow-inare Furness on January 6 last year.

Laura Castle reported Leiland-james had fallen from a sofa while she was in the kitchen, but medics at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital raised concerns the injuries did not match her account.

She has since pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Leilandjames, who lived with her for less than five months, but denies murder and child cruelty. Scott Castle has pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing the death of Leiland-james and also to child cruelty.

Jurors were told the couple had undergone a rigorous process by Cumbria County Council in being allowed to look after Leilandjames, who was taken into care at birth.

Yesterday, Penny Hindle, a social worker of 35 years’ experience, said she phoned Castle before the baby’s lifesupport was switched off on January 7.

She said: “I said to Laura that I had been advised that Leilandjames’s injuries were not consistent with her account.

“She said she had previously tapped or slapped Leiland-james.

“I was really shocked.”