Joanne Sharkey, 56, suffocated her newborn son to death and then buried him near a theme park
News John Scheerhout Crime reporter 19:35, 21 Mar 2025
The husband of a housing benefit officer who killed their newborn son nearly 30 years ago while she was suffering from post natal depression and buried him near a theme park has told a court: "I blame myself."
The body of the infant, who came to be known as Baby Callum, was discovered inside two black bin bags, one inside the other, in woodland close to Gulliver's World in Warrington on March 14, 1998. A post mortem examination revealed the infant had suffered bruising to the head and neck and his mouth had been stuffed with wads of tissue paper.
Article continues below
Hundreds of people were interviewed, with local hospitals, midwife services, GP practices, and schools all checked to identify any young females that may have given birth during that period. A full DNA sample of the baby was extracted from blood taken from his body - but there was no match on the police DNA database.
But following a DNA breakthrough earlier this year Joanne Sharkey, of Denham Close in Croxteth, Liverpool, was charged with murdering the youngster - believed to be a matter of hours old at the time of his death - and concealing the birth of a child.
The 56-year-old had been scheduled to face a trial in March but she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility as well as concealing the birth of a child.
Today (Friday, March 21) she re-appeared at Liverpool Crown Court where shocking details of the case were outlined in public for the first time ahead of her sentencing.
The court heard she was suffering from post-natal depression following the birth of her first child Matthew and it was said she could not face the birth of another, the infant she killed who became known as Baby Callum. She killed him by suffocating him moments after his birth, cleaned up afterwards and then concealed the body, according to the prosecution.
In a victim statement read out in court, Sharkey's husband Neil Sharkey said: "I have been married to Joanne for 31 years. We've spent the last 12 months separate since the arrest so I have been in the UAE working. I have recently returned to the UK as I have a new job based in the south of the country and I only come home at weekends.
"I speak to Joanne on the phone and see her when I return home. I was not the greatest husband or father when I was younger and it was all left for Joanne. Joanne was an amazing mother to [first son] Matthew and she raised Matthew single-handedly to be one of the nicest people I have known. I'm so proud of Matthew and what he has achieved and this is down to Joanne."
Mr Sharkey said he had been left 'broken' about the revelations of what had happened almost 30 years ago, without his knowledge.
He said: "There's a piece of me that's disappeared that will never come back. I blame myself for what's happened because I was not the easiest person to live with and I was selfish."
He questioned whether his troubled wife could have come to him for help 'if I was not so difficult'. He added: "I'm supporting Joanne and always will. She has been my best friend for 31 years and I have loved her since the first time I saw her and always will love her."
Mr Sharkey said he knew his wife was 'remorseful' and was 'accepting of any punishment'.
The couple's son Matthew Sharkey, in a separate victim statement, praised his mum, saying he 'always knew I was loved and supported'. He described how she would 'always put a brave face' on to protect the family.
When the defendant was eventually arrested decades later following a DNA breakthrough, prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC told the court a covert recording captured Sharkey telling her husband, who had also been arrested, in a patrol car: "I'm not going to f***ing deny it. It is what it is isn't it. I f***ing did it."
When she was interviewed Sharkey expressed relief that her crime had finally been uncovered. Asked how she felt, she said: "Do you know it's been a bit of a relief. I feel sick to the stomach for what I have done. It's out. It's come off my chest."
She described the secret she had been keeping as 'haunting - something you think about every day'.
She described keeping her pregnancy secret and details of giving birth to baby Callum probably in the bathroom of her home when nobody else was home. In her police interview, Sharkey told officers she heard muffled crying of the newborn moments after birth. She described reaching down and covering his mouth and nose.
"It just could not make that noise. Just to be quiet." she told officers. Asked why she had wanted the infant to be quiet, she said: "I knew I just had to... It had to be quiet. Then he was quiet."
The court heard that consultant psychologists acting for both the prosecution and the defence agreed that her mental state at the time of her crime was 'a result of post-natal depression following the birth of her first child'. She was said to have been 'fearful' of having a second child and 'resorted to a process of denial of her pregnancy throughout its course'.
She had told work colleagues she did not want another child but became pregnant in the summer of 1997, when she was 28. Sharkey was said to be an 'educated woman' with A-levels in maths and economics who worked as a council housing benefits officer, the court was told.
The body of the baby Callum was discovered close to the Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington in March 1998. A dog walker discovered him, a few hours old, wrapped in a plastic bag on March 14 1998.
A post mortem examination discovered bruising to the infant's neck and head. Images of the injuries - only shown to the barristers in court - were said to show injuries to the throat, bruising to 'multiple locations' on the head, bruising to the 'internal structures' of the neck, bleeding under the left eye as well as 'wads of tissue paper' in the infant's mouth and more 'screwed up' tissue paper impacting the larynx.
The infant was found inside two black bin liners, one inside the other and both tied up at the top.
A DNA profile of Baby Callum came up with no matches on national databases but there was a breakthrough when Sharkey's first child Mathew was arrested and his DNA was found to be a 'very close match', the KC told the court.
"On July 28, 2023, 25 years and four months after she had disposed of her infant (the defendant) was arrested for his murder," said Mr Hankin.
Sharkey immediately told officers her husband Neil, the father, 'knows nothing about it'. Both Sharkey and her husband were arrested although no further action was taken against Neil, the court was told.
In her police interview, Sharkey said she began 'showing' five months into her pregnancy but she 'kept the secret to myself'.
Asked how she kept her pregnancy secret, the defendant answered that she and Neil 'were ships that passed in the night'. She said: "He’d been working shifts... I wasn’t huge, so, you put a little bit of weight on, it’s the winter; you’ve ate a little bit too much, you know, you put a bigger jumper on. I kept myself to myself for that time … didn’t socialise for the last few months and just kept everyone at arm’s length."
She recalled a 'quick' labour of about two-and-a-half hours and that 'he just sort of came out without me doing anything''.
After the birth she said she 'just had to make him quiet'. Asked what happened then, she said: "I sort of reached down, I must have been on the floor at this point... I’ve covered his nose, his mouth. It just couldn’t make that noise, just to be quiet."
The court heard a contemporary review of the post mortem examination concluded that, despite the presence of bruising and tissue in the mouth, the medical cause of death was 'unascertained'.
During the hearing Sharkey, wearing a white jumper and flanked by a single female dock officer, sat with her head bowed, watched by her husband Neil, now adult son Matthew and father Stephen in the public gallery.
Nina Graeme KC, mitigating for Sharkey, said her family 'remain supportive' of the defendant, adding that her client 'accepts her actions caused the death of her infant'.
The psychologists who assessed Sharkey agreed the defendant had 'traits' of autism, said the KC, who reminded the court that during her police interview she could not recall intending to harm the infant. "Her primary intent throughout was to conceal," said the barrister.
"The situation was unplanned and giving birth was chaotic and Joanne Sharkey.... used materials which must have been immediately to hand," said the KC, who said the paper found in the infant's mouth 'must have been toilet tissue'.
Her client had 'nothing to assist her' in the birth and nor anything to cut the umbilical cord which was 'torn', said the KC. Her client's conduct had been characterised by 'panic, fear and illogical thought processes'.
The KC said her client, who has no previous convictions, had never 'denied' that baby Callum was born alive but instead she simply 'didn't know' at the time, although she now accepts the baby must have been born. The impact of the case on her client had been 'enormous' and the defendant had shown 'courage' in making admissions to the police.
"Mrs Sharkey is an educated woman. She has possessed in her life organisational skills, practical knowledge. It's also right to say she also has been for many years a much-loved wife and mother and a valued colleague and friend," said the KC, adding that when she gave birth to Callum she did so 'isolated, in panic and in pain'.
She said it was 'inconceivable' that she would have acted in such a way without suffering a 'depressive illness' at the time for which she received no help.
Article continues below
The barrister asked the judge to suspend any prison sentence.
Adjourning the sentence until April 3 or 4, Mrs Justice Eady told the defendant: "I need to reflect and think carefully about what's the appropriate course."
