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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Tara Cobham

Mother who suffocated her baby and left his body in woodland in secret kept for 25 years avoids jail

A mother who suffocated her newborn baby and dumped his body in a bin bag in a woodland in a secret she kept for 25 years has avoided jail.

A judge has called for “compassion” for Joanne Sharkey, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility over the death of the baby boy, named Callum by police investigating his death in 1998.

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