A woman who suffocated her newborn baby and left his body in woodland has been given a suspended sentence.
Joanne Sharkey, 55, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility over the death of the baby boy, who was named Callum by police investigating his death in 1998.
His body was found by a dog walker close to Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington, Cheshire, on March 14 that year.
Now, Sharkey has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Joanne Sharkey was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today
PA
A funeral was held for Baby 'Callum'
PAOn Friday, Liverpool Crown Court heard that when she killed the baby, Sharkey was suffering from post-natal depression after the birth of her first son in 1996.
Prosecution barrister Jonas Hankin KC said psychiatrists agreed Sharkey was "fearful of becoming a mother to another child" and developed a depressive illness which "substantially impaired (her) ability to form rational judgment and exercise self-control."
She told police she kept her pregnancy a secret and when the baby was born in the bathroom of her house in Croxteth, Liverpool, she heard him starting to make a noise and covered his nose and mouth "to make him quiet."
The court heard Sharkey was a married 28-year-old housing benefit officer at West Lancashire Council when Callum was born.
Hankin told the court: “It’s apparent Mrs Sharkey soon found the combination of a full-time job and motherhood challenging, and she has since been diagnosed as suffering from post-natal depression during that period."
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Joanne Sharkey has been spared jail
Cheshire Constabulary
Hankin continued: "She told a work colleague and friend Amanda Harper she didn’t want any more children after Matthew. Nevertheless she became pregnant in the summer of 1997. She did not tell her husband."
The court heard that on March 12, 1998, a man saw a young woman walking quickly out of the woods who looked “upset”.
The man walked into the woods near Gulliver’s World and saw a black bin bag lying on the ground to the left of the track but did not touch it, Hankin said.
Two days later a dog walker saw the same bag, was curious about what was inside and punctured it with a stick to find the body of an infant inside, the judge was told.
Nina Grahame KC, defending Sharkey, said: "Her primary intent throughout was concealment. That had been her intent since she became aware she was pregnant.
"The primary intent was concealment on the day itself. The situation was unplanned, the giving birth was chaotic."
The approach road to Gullivers World, Theme Park, Warrington where a newborn baby boy whose body was found in a bag close to the parkPASharkey sat shaking with emotion and wiping away tears in the courtroom at Liverpool Crown Court as the judge said she would pass a suspended sentence.
Justice Eady said: "I’m clear you suffered a lengthy postnatal depression. The events that bring us to this court are both terrible and tragic.
"Nothing I can do or say can turn the clock back to resolve the tragedy of this case. You lived isolated with this terrible and tragic knowledge.
"You had carried this with you the whole time, thinking about it every day. I’m satisfied your offending was not planned or premeditated.
"I’m satisfied that this very sad case calls for compassion. No useful purpose would be achieved by immediate imprisonment."
