A woman who killed her newborn baby 27 years ago while experiencing severe postnatal depression has been given a suspended prison sentence, with a judge saying the case 'calls for compassion'. Joanne Sharkey, 55, admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility over the death of her days-old son, whose body was found in woodland in 1998.
The infant, known as Baby Callum, was discovered wrapped in bin bags near Gulliver's World theme park in Cheshire, sparking a nationwide hunt for his mother. The case went cold until a routine 2023 review matched DNA from Sharkey's firstborn son, Matthew, to the baby. Matthew's DNA had been uploaded to the national database following an unrelated arrest years earlier.
Sharkey, a former council officer from Liverpool, had kept the pregnancy and birth secret from everyone, including her family. She suffocated the newborn by stuffing tissue paper in his mouth and disposed of his body. In police interviews, she said she had thought about confessing 'a million times' but could not find the words.
Sentencing her at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Eady said the defendant's judgment had been 'significantly impaired' by undiagnosed postnatal depression following the birth of her first son in 1996. The judge noted that had Sharkey not been suffering mental illness, she would have faced a life sentence with a minimum of 17 to 20 years. Instead, she received a two-year prison term, suspended for two years.
The court heard that Sharkey's husband and son gave emotional statements describing her as 'an amazing mother' who was remorseful. A psychiatrist described her experience of giving birth as 'de-realisation', a dissociative state. Judge Eady concluded: 'No useful purpose would be achieved by immediate imprisonment.'
