Inquest rules that a Cumbrian boy's death was due to unlawful killing
Leiland-James Corkill was killed by his prospective adoptive mum
Last updated 30th Apr 2024
A coroner looking into the death of a baby in Cumbria has ruled that his death was due to unlawful killing.
Leiland-James Corkill died on the 7th January 2021 at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool aged 1 year and 17 days. He sustained a severe traumatic head injury the day before in an assault likely involving severe shaking by Laura Castle in Barrow.
Laura Castle had been hoping to adopt Leiland-James before his murder.
However it was heard how the Castles had not been very truthful in their applications to adopt a child.
The extent of Laura's mental health and physical health struggles had not been fully revealed during the application, nor had the families money issues. If these had been disclosed it's believed Leiland may not have ended up in Castle's care.
In a quote the coroner said:
"The failure of Laura Castle and her husband to provide truthful information to social services was a significant causative factor."
The inquest started on Monday.
In a statement Laura Corkill, Leiland's birth mother, described her son as 'precious' with eyes that 'always sparkled'. She went on to state that he was not given a chance to grow into a wonderful man.
Evidence was also heard that showed Laura Castle to be struggling with caring for Leiland while he was in her care.
Texts exchanged between Laura and her partner showed this, and she eventually admitted to social workers that she did not love the child. It was noted however that this is not unusual in the early stages of adoptions, as parents adept to the new addition to the family.
In a statement social workers also revealed that during a visit Castle appeared to be in a flat mood, but that the home seemed normal and nothing of any concern was uncovered during visits.
Despite this admission, in a statement a social worker stated that everything was done as it should have been, and there was no indications Leiland had been or would be physically harmed.
This was infact taken as a positive exchange, as showed Castle's willingness to disclose her problems she was facing with the adoption.
In light of this the coroner would go on to state that he gets the impressions that the Castles were telling a different story to their social workers as to what was actually happening in real life.
In his conclusion the coroner stated: "For me the Castles were never truthful about the real situation."
The trial
Castle was convicted of Leiland-James' murder and jailed for a minimum of 18 years.
During her trial, it was heard how the 38-year-old had beaten and slapped the boy before fatally shaking him and banging his head against a hard surface.
A man was cleared of all charges.
Ms Castle 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 that she had said during a home visit that she did not love Leiland-James and was struggling to bond with him.
The possibility of removing the youngster from their care was later discussed , she said her extended family loved him so he was "not going anywhere".
At the time of the court case an NSPCC spokesperson said:
"This is a profoundly sad case. Leiland-James had been placed with Laura Castle so he could be cared for and nurtured. But rather than a place of refuge, his new home became a place of danger, with Castle’s violence against him resulting in tragic consequences.
"Castle has now faced justice but nothing can undo what she did. However, it is vital that all agencies involved in Leiland-James’ short life wholly take onboard any learnings concluded by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review.
The inquest will be looking into what happened - and will last for two days at Cumbria coroners court.