Woman killed baby she wanted to adopt because he wouldn't stop crying

A woman who called her one-year-old foster child a "top t***" and "s*** bag" shook him to death after she lost her temper because he would not stop crying.

Laura Castle, 38, and her husband Scott, 35, were looking after Leiland-James Corkill for only five months before the toddler was tragically killed. The youngster was a “looked-after child” who was taken into care at birth before he was approved to live with his prospective adoptive parents from August 2020 by authorities in Cumbria.

The court heard how the couple struggled to bond with him and concerns were raised in November 2020 when Laura Castle said she did not love the little boy she had initially wanted to adopt. The following month, the Castles were told by a senior social worker she would not support any application to formally adopt Leiland-James at that stage and recommended further therapeutic parenting sessions.

READ MORE: The men from 'Representing the Danger' gang who murdered a young man named and pictured

The possibility of removing Leiland-James from their home was discussed but Laura Castle said her extended family loved him so he was “not going anywhere”. As concerns remained about the lack of emotional bond, a review by social services was set to take place in the new year.

Sadly, in the morning of January 6 in 2021, Leiland-James suffered catastrophic head injuries at the family's home in Burrow-in-Furness. Laura Castle contacted emergency services and claimed that the little boy had fallen off the sofa, injured his head and was struggling to breathe.

However, the extent of his injuries did not match her account and hospital staff raised the alarm. Laura Castle lied to police, as well as family and friends and said the death was "a tragic