Depression led mum to kill baby after secret birth

Joanne Sharkey told police she felt like she could not face becoming a mother when she killed her newborn son

The mother of a baby boy who was found dead in a woodland in 1998 told police she felt "relief" at her arrest after living with the secret of killing him for 25 years.

Joanne Sharkey, 55, from Liverpool, was not identified until 2023 when cold case detectives found a match for her older son in national DNA databases.

A murder charge was dropped after prosecutors reviewed psychiatric reports and accepted a plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to severe post-natal depression.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Sharkey had hidden her pregnancy from her husband, Neil Sharkey, who was completely unaware he had fathered a second child until police arrived in 2023.

Sharkey later told police the couple were like "ships in the night" that winter due to her husband's long hours and shift patterns, and she was able to shut herself off and use baggy clothes to conceal her pregnancy from friends and wider family.

When the couple were arrested, police recorded a conversation in the back of patrol car in which she told Mr Sharkey: "I'm not [expletive] gonna deny nothing, it is what it is, isn't it?

"I [expletive] did it."

Joanne Sharkey (front right) arriving at Liverpool Crown Court

A statement from Mr Sharkey was read by junior counsel for the defence, Rebecca Filletti, in which he said he had "not been the best husband and father" and partially "blamed [himself]" for her not seeking help.

"When I was younger it was all left to Joanne, she was an amazing mother to Matthew," he said.

"She has single-handedly raised him to be one of the nicest people I have known."

A statement from Matthew Sharkey, now 28, was also read. He said he had an "amazing childhood" thanks to his mother, who he described as "always there for me".

He added: "I hope she can receive the help she needs to address the issues she has I will be there every single step of the way and support her with anything she needs."

Local people gave the unidentified baby the name Callum in reference to the area of Warrington where he was found, Callands, in March 1998.

Forensic investigators found wads of tissue paper had been put into his mouth and throat, and found injuries consistent with asphyxiation after birth.

Hundreds of people were interviewed, DNA swabs were taken from local people and some young women were even arrested after their own families suggested they may have been responsible.

Jonas Hankin KC, prosecuting, said there was "consensus" amongst medical experts commissioned by the prosecution and defence that Sharkey's symptoms meant she had been unable to form a rational judgement at the time she killed the infant.

Local people arranged a burial and funeral service for the infant in Warrington

The court heard her symptoms set in after the birth of her first son, Matthew, in July 1996, and led to what her defence team described as "extreme and disabling" depressive symptoms.

Sharkey was described as an "educated woman" who had studied accountancy and worked as a housing benefits officer at West Lancashire Council at the time.

Mr Hankin said: "It is apparent that Mrs Sharkey soon found the combination of a full-time job, five days a week, Monday to Friday, and motherhood challenging.

"She has since been diagnosed as suffering from post-natal depression.

"She told her work colleague and friend Amanda Harper that she didn't want any more children after Matthew.

"Nevertheless, the defendant became pregnant again in the summer of 1997. She did not tell her husband."

Joanne Sharkey suffered from "extreme and disabling" depressive symptoms, a court heard.

The court heard that in her police interviews Sharkey said she had tried to "disassociate" from and ignore her pregnancy until she went into labour.

In her interviews she said she had lost much of her memory about what happened next, but believes she gave birth alone in the bathroom of the family home in Denham Close, Croxteth.

She said she believed she covered the baby's mouth after he made a "whimpering cry" because "he needed to be quiet".

Callum's body was later sealed into two black bin bags and dumped near Gulliver's World theme park.

Mr Hankin said on 11 March 1998, a retired local man named as Mr Tourney was walking his dog in the Callands area and noticed a young woman emerge from the woodland.

He told the court: "She looked away from him as they passed one another, but he could see that she was upset."

Mr Tourney later noticed the binbags, but did not interfere with them.

On 14 March 1998 another man walking his dog checked what was in the bags and found the body of a baby boy.

Nina Grahame KC defending Sharkey, said her client had not acted logically due to her mental health condition and urged the court to suspend any prison sentence.

She said: "She took none of the steps that an intelligent woman would be expected to do, she took no steps to protect herself from the tragic horror of what happened thereafter. She gave birth alone, panicked, terrified, and in pain."

Ms Grahame said Sharkey had spent 26 years with the guilt of what she had done, and had spent the past two years suffering with the fresh guilt of watching the impact of her arrest and the publicity that followed on her family.

She asked the court: "How much more punishment does Joanne Sharkey require?".

The sentence hearing was adjourned until a later date due to lack of court time.