The abandoned baby boy who touched a community and his mother’s terrible 25 year secret

Chief Reporter Neal Keeling reports on the solving of a tragic cold case which shocked and haunted a community

It was hoped the poignant images would lead to a breakthrough. A small white coffin being carried through a churchyard and the casket decorated with flowers, placed next to a Teddy Bear.

The very public funeral of an abandoned baby boy was painfully sad but also an opportunity for detectives trying to identify his killer. The child had been named Baby Callum after the area where he was found, Callunds in Warrington.

He was laid to rest on July 27th 1998 after the local community rallied round to pay for the service. It was a dignity and love that he had been denied in his few hours of life.

The infant’s naked body had been found in knotted black bin bags on March 14th that year by a man walking his dog with his young son in woodland close to Gulliver’s World theme park. Extensive house to house inquiries in the district had failed to bring in any key intelligence for police.

Woman admits killing baby son who was found dead in woodland 27 years ago

The baby’s funeral was seen as a way of triggering the conscience of the person who knew the truth. It did not work.

Only one person knew the full story of the child’s birth and death. She would keep that secret to herself until police knocked on her door at 8.40am on July 28th 2023 – one day after the 25th anniversary of the baby’s funeral.

Now the child’s mother, Joanne Sharkey, 55, has admitted the manslaughter of the child by reason of diminished responsiblity. Crown lawyers have accepted that at the time of the killing her mental state was impaired due to a medical condition.

It took a quarter of a century to crack the case but in doing so police uncovered a remarkable twist in the story of Baby Callum’s brief existence.

When a huge police operation was launched to identify the child’s mother, hospitals, midwifery services, GP practices, and schools were checked as officers worked on the possibility that she was a very young herself. In reality she was at the time of the child’s death 28 years old, married, and the mother of another child, aged 20-months-old.

It was due to the commitment of cold case officers, the application of scientific methods, and minor crimes committed by two relations that Joanne Sharkey was unmasked as the child’s mother and killer.

A full DNA sample for the baby was extracted from blood taken from his body. A full DNA sample was also recovered from blood on the back of the black bin bags he was found in. This second profile was identified as that of the mother.

However there was no match on the Police National DNA Database. A partial DNA profile of the father was also obtained from examination of the baby and mother’s DNA.

DNA swabs were taken from a large number of people living locally but none were found to match with the mother’s DNA.

Police thought they had made a key breakthrough when a witness came forward who had seen a distressed female leaving the area where the baby’s body was found a couple of days before the discovery.

The witness also recalled seeing black bin bags in situ. An artist’s impression was created and released to the media.

This was followed by a large media campaign and, over the years, anniversary appeals. The case remained on Cheshire Constabulary’s Cold Case list and was subject to regular reviews, including refreshed searches of the DNA database.

In January 2022 police carried out a full review of the original investigation and lines of enquiry carried out in the 1990s, plus a review with forensic experts of any new DNA opportunities.

Through further DNA analysis the mother of the baby, Joanne Sharkey, and father, Neil Sharkey, were identified. It was a familial link which led police to them.

Two relatives of the family had been added to the DNA database in the years since searches were last completed after committing minor crimes. Familial DNA identifies samples which have familial similarities to the target sample which can come from distant or close relatives.

But when police arrested Joanne the first indication of an astonishing aspect to the tragedy emerged.

As a police officer explained to her that she was being held on suspicion of murder as she sat in pyjamas she remained expressionless but then, pointing to a room next door, said “he doesn’t know anything”.

She was referring to her husband Neil. And she was telling the truth.

Although initially arrested as well on suspicion of murder the Crown Prosecution Service took no further action against Neil. The CPS believes that Neil was unaware of his wife’s pregnancy, the birth, or the subsequent killing.

At the time of her arrest the couple were living at Denham Close in Croxteth, Liverpool. Prosecutors believe the address is where the baby was born – possibly in a bathroom. The baby was found to have wads of tissue in his mouth and throat.

Joanne then, at some point in the following hours, killed the baby before placing him within bin bags and into a car belonging to the couple. She then drove to the site in Warrington where the body was left.

Joanne was due to face a four week trial but today pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the child by reason of diminished responsibility and to endeavouring to conceal the birth. She will be sentenced on March 21st.

She wept as she admitted her guilt, dabbing her face with a tissue. Her defence counsel Nina Graham KC stood next to her outside the dock at Liverpool Crown Court and helped her deliver her pleas.

Following the guilty plea, Detective Inspector Hannah Friend, said: “The case of Baby Callum shocked the local community 27 years ago, with residents coming together to give him a proper funeral and try to help identify the person responsible for his death.

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“Despite his life being cruelly cut short, he has not been forgotten, and his memory has lived on in the local area for the past few decades. Likewise, our efforts to locate who did this to him have not wavered and the case was subject to regular reviews and refreshed searches of the Police DNA Database.

“It was thanks to this that a familial DNA sample was identified, and following a thorough investigation and multiple enquiries, Sharkey was identified, arrested and later charged in relation to Baby Callum’s death.

“While this guilty plea today will bring some closure to what has been a lengthy and complex investigation, ongoing for almost 30 years, the result will not bring back Baby Callum who should have had his whole life ahead of him.

“I would like to thank the team of officers and staff across the entirety of this investigation whose dedication has meant someone has now been held accountable for an innocent baby’s death. Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this case.”

Adam Till, a specialist prosecutor at the CPS, said: “This has been a complex case about a baby whose life was unfairly cut short. He would have been an adult today and it’s devastating to think of the life he could have had. The circumstances of his death have deeply affected everyone who has been involved in this case as well as the wider community.

“We carefully considered and accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter following a full review of the psychiatric reports and medical evidence. The evidence concluded that Sharkey’s mental state was significantly impaired at the time of the offence due to a medical condition which diminished her criminal responsibility.

“While the outcome of this case will never bring the baby back, we hope it brings a small measure of comfort to everyone who has been affected by this awful case”