As she informed the jury, Leiland-James Corkill’s adopted mother, Laura Castle the Preston Child Killer, broke down in the witness box: “I killed him.” 38-year-old Laura Castle said she shook the 13-month-old kid she intended to adopt and banged his head off a sofa’s arm. Castle denies murder but pleads manslaughter of the tot.
Thirty-four-year-old spouse Scott Castle is accused of either causing or enabling Leiland-James’s death. Both of the parents deny the abuse. Laura Castle cried at Preston Crown Court as she told the jury she was finding it difficult to take after the infant.
She claimed to have contacted her health visitor and social workers about his sobbing and problems forming relationships with Leiland-James. She remarked, “They all comforted me that that was normal, the way I felt. They did not seem too worried.
While her husband Scott worked evenings at BAE Systems, she told the court she found parenting “tough and draining” and battled to handle the baby’s wailing. The COVID lockdown prevented Laura Castle from bringing Leiland-James to baby groups or soft play, and she claimed she lacked the familial support she needed.
Scott Castle called the infant a “top twat” and mentioned “leathering” him in text messages to her husband. “It’s just how we spoke”, Scott Castle said.
She maintained ‘leathering’ was a figure of phrase and insisted she never smacked Leiland-James hard. She admitted hitting his bottom. Laura Castle told the court that Leiland-James was a huge infant who cried a lot and wanted to be carried.
She said she struggled to comfort him and admitted putting earplugs in and viewing him on the baby monitor. She sobbed as the jury was shown pictures of Leiland-James playing and spending time with his family following his August 2020 live announcement on Eskdale Avenue, Barrow.
Castle claimed, however, that she shook the young lad after he vomited the Weetabix she had given him for breakfast. Leiland-James was screaming while she said another family member was phoning for assistance.
She continued, sobbing violently, “I shook my lovely boy. I only wanted him to stop crying. Defending, David McLachlan QC asked Castle how hard she shook Leiland-James. She said, “I’m not sure. demanding. Leiland-James fell to the floor as she stood up to see another family member. Her head slammed on the sofa arm.
“I just couldn’t take the crying,” she added. “I knew what had happened in minutes and that he was winded. I took him up; his hands were…oh god…. he went floppy and…. it was like gasping, and I assumed he was winded. He was stiff. To calm him, I placed the bottle in his mouth; it started to dribble.”
Mr McLaghlan QC asked Mrs Laura Castle whether she acknowledged killing her child. She answered, “Yes”. She responded, “Please stop crying, please stop crying, I can’t take it,” when asked what was on her mind. I wanted it stopped. He was calling out.
She cried: “He was simply an innocent little boy, and through my actions, he has paid the ultimate price. That goes on me. Not Penny (the social worker), not Scott. Me”.
Laura Castle said she was “terrified and ashamed”, and she did not inform her husband, the police, or physicians she had shaken Leiland-James. She told the court, Leiland-James died “because of me”.
“At that moment, when you shook Leiland-James, what did you intend to do?” Mr McLaghlan QC questioned.
Laura Castle retorted: “I had no intention. Said I lost my sanity. My head was not working. I was right in the moment.”
Mr McLaghlan QC said: “Mrs Castle, you have lied and lied and lied. why?”
In the end, she admitted manslaughter but, at Preston Crown Court, was found guilty of murder and child cruelty. Castle, 38 (now 40), was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years.
Unbelievably (not to anyone with no experience or knowledge of the UK justice system), her husband, Scott Castle, was cleared of causing or allowing the boy’s death.
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