The biological mother of a baby murdered by a woman hoping to adopt him has told of the moment she found out her son had died.
Leiland-James Corkill was just 48 hours old when he was taken from his mother Laura Corkill after she gave birth to him in hospital in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in December 2019.
For the first few months of his life, Ms Corkill was able to see her son for an hour-and-a-half four times a week at a council-run contact centre.
But as the Covid-19 pandemic swept through the country in March 2020, the contact centre was closed and she was left only able to see him via video for the next three months.
Leiland-James was placed in the care of foster mother Laura Castle and her husband Scott Castle in August of that year but died the following January.
Castle was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years in May this year after being found guilty of his murder and child cruelty.
Her husband was cleared of causing or allowing Leiland-James’ death.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Ms Corkill described the moment she learned of her son’s death, telling the BBC: “I got a phone call on 6 January saying that Leiland was in hospital.
“(I said) ‘What happened’, they turned round and said apparently he’d had an accident and fell off the sofa and he was critical.
“I asked the person who phoned me ‘Which hospital? I want to go down to where my baby is’.
“They wouldn’t give me it until 24 hours later – and then they eventually told me it was Liverpool Alder Hey Hospital.
“By the time I got down there, he’d already been dead. I just froze to begin with. I froze for about five, 10 minutes.
“I didn’t know what to do. And then eventually I went into his room and I just wanted to pick him up, but they wouldn’t allow me.”
Ms Corkill branded Castle a “monster” in a statement read out during the murder trial at Preston Crown Court.
The court heard Leighland-James was taken into care at birth before he was approved to live with his prospective adoptive parents in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, from August 2020.
The Castles had been selected by an adoption panel following an application process overseen by Cumbria Children’s Services Department.
In November 2020, concerns were raised after Laura Castle said during a home visit she did not love Leiland-James and was struggling to bond with him.
Concerns remained about the lack of emotional bond and a review by social services was set to take place in the new year.
When detectives examined the Castles’ mobile phones following their arrest, they found text messages which were derogatory towards Leiland-James.
Castle wrote the youngster was a “proper nob head”, “s*** bag” and “top t***”, while her husband said he was a “d*** baby”, “fat s***” and “toss bag”.
The prospective adoptive mother also messaged on several occasions that she had “leathered” Leiland-James.
Castle rang for an ambulance on the morning of 6 January 2021 and reported Leiland-James had fallen off a sofa, injured his head and was struggling to breathe.
However, hospital medics raised concerns as the extent of his injuries did not match her account.
She later changed her story, claiming she had shaken Leiland-James after he had not stopped crying and that he hit his head on the arm-rest of a sofa before falling off her knee on to the floor.
Medical experts told the court though that the degree of force required to cause Leiland-James’ injuries would have been “severe” and likely to be a combination of shaking and an impact with a solid surface.
Prosecutor Michael Brady QC said it was the Crown’s case she killed the boy as she lost her temper and suggested she smashed the back of his head against a piece of furniture.
Ms Corkill had already had two children taken into care while she was living with an abusive partner, but said she was in a “good place” while pregnant with Leiland-James.
She told the BBC she was “on cloud nine” as she prepared for the arrival of her third child with the help of charity Women Out West and social workers.
Ms Corkill said her first social worker appeared happy with the preparations she was making for the baby at home, but things changed when she was assigned a new social worker.
Cumbria County Council said Ms Corkill was informed three times of their intention to remove Leiland-James from her care as part of a long-standing plan, but the mother claims she was only given confirmation when the social worker was taking her son from the hospital.
She has spoken out as an independent review into the case is expected to be published on Thursday.
