It also found that when the mother told social workers she was struggling to bond with the child, insufficient support was provided for the family. Leiland-James Corkill was taken into care at birth and, aged seven months, was placed with Laura and Scott Castle, a couple from Barrow-in-Furness. Five months later, shortly after his first birthday, the baby died as a result of catastrophic head injuries. Laura Castle was found guilty of murder in May and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 18 years. Laura Castle. Photo: Cumbria Police/PA The exact details of what happened may never be known. But a trial at Preston Crown Court heard that Castle lost her temper with the baby when it would not stop crying after breakfast, and violently shook it to death. In a letter to the judge, the baby’s mother, Laura Corkill, said: “They put him in a monster’s house.” Corkill, from Whitehaven, said her son would be alive today if she had been allowed to keep him and criticized Cumbria County Council’s actions. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Why did they put him there? Why did it take them so long to receive it? They should have canceled the adoption order.” The independent report into the boy’s death, published on Thursday, concluded there was relevant information that could have been shared more fully between agencies. For example, at the time of her adoption evaluation, Castle told a treatment agency that she drank six bottles of wine a week and had problems with low mood, anxiety and anger management. She talked about yelling at her biological daughter too much. Concern about her drinking was also raised by a consultant gastroenterologist and the information was shared with her GP. The report says Castle told a social worker she was struggling and worried she wasn’t loving the baby as much as she expected. There should, the report says, have been a “more timely and robust response” to these concerns. Lesley Walker, independent auditor for Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership, said social workers needed to seek information and not rely on what they were told. They should be “genuinely curious and ready to challenge in all areas of day-to-day work with children and families”. John Readman, the executive director for people at Cumbria County Council, said the authority was deeply sorry and offered its condolences. He said the Castles went through an eight-month assessment process and no concerns were raised by anyone in either agency about their suitability. “What we now know, from the trial and this review, is that Laura Castle deliberately and repeatedly misled and lied to social workers about vital aspects of her life, including her mental and physical health, her use of alcohol and of her debts,” Readman said. . “We also now know that relevant information about Laura Castle was not shared between the agencies and that more could have been done to clarify some of the information we were given. “If the full picture of Laura Castle’s life were known, then the assessment of her suitability as an adopter could better examine the vulnerabilities and potential risks of adoption.” Readman said he accepted Castle had told social workers she was struggling to bond with the baby. “The report highlights that more should have been put in place to support the family,” he said. “We recognize this and have since made changes to the way we work.” He added: “I am fully committed to making sure we do everything we can to prevent this from happening again, here or anywhere else.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Sarah O’Brien, chief nursing officer for Lancashire and South Cumbria, said the circumstances of Leiland-James’ death would stay with them for a long time. “Ensuring that professionals openly and proactively share information throughout the adoption process is vital, and we are saddened and disappointed that the review has highlighted a number of gaps where this needs to be improved,” O’Brien said. “A lack of robust information sharing continues to be seen in child death reviews nationally and for Leiland-James, information sharing was not good enough at all critical stages of the adoption process. Action has already been taken at local level to address this and a recommendation to change national guidelines has also been made.’
