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.
