Why British mum has avoided prison after killing baby and dumping his body 27 years ago

Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing

A British mum has avoided prison after killing her newborn baby and leaving his body in a woodland.

Joanne Sharkey was arrested for murder 25 years after his body was found in 1998 and was given a suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court today (4 April) after admitting manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Police investigating the baby’s death named him Callum after a dog walker found his body close to Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington, Cheshire.

It wasn’t until the 55-year-old’s first child, Matthew, was arrested for an unrelated offence in 2023 that DNA was found as a close match to the baby.

Samples were then taken from her and her husband, identifying them as the biological parents as she told officers he ‘knows nothing about it’.

The identity of Baby Callum's mum remained a mystery for 25 years. (Getty Stock)

Sharkey told police she had kept her pregnancy a secret by wearing bigger clothes and keeping everyone ‘at arm’s length’, including not telling her husband.

The mother suffocated the baby after giving birth to him in her bathroom, covering his nose and mouth ‘to make him quiet’.

“It’s haunting, something you think about every day. You try and push it out but it creeps back in. You carry on with your life, you go to work and you do Christmas and you do Easter but this is always in your head,” she told detectives.

When Callum was born, Sharkey was a married 28-year-old housing benefit officer at West Lancashire Council, the court heard. But she had found the combination of working full-time and being a mother challenging.

Sharkey has since being diagnosed as suffering from postnatal depression during that period.

Passing sentence at Liverpool Crown Court, Justice Eady told the woman she accepted her mental state at the time had ‘substantially impaired your ability to form rational judgments’ and since then had been ‘haunted’ by what she had done.

Justice Eady gave a suspended sentence. (PA Video/PA Wire)

Sharkey admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility as the judge said it’s clear she ‘suffered a lengthy postnatal depression’.

"The events that bring us to this court are both terrible and tragic.

“Nothing I can do or say can turn the clock back to resolve the tragedy of this case. You lived isolated with this terrible and tragic knowledge,” Justice Eady told Sharkey.

“You had carried this with you the whole time, thinking about it every day. I’m satisfied your offending was not planned or premeditated.

“I’m satisfied that this very sad case calls for compassion. No useful purpose would be achieved by immediate imprisonment.”

Sharkey was given a two-year prison sentence for manslaughter and six months for the offence of concealment of the birth of a child to run concurrent. The sentences are both suspended for two years.

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.

If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.