Joanne Sharkey, 55, was apprehended by police over the death of a baby boy who was left in two knotted bags inside a wooded area of Warrington back in March, 1998
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Joanne Sharkey arrested for manslaughter after killing baby in 1998
A mum arrested for killing her own baby 27 years ago uttered four desperate words as she was confronted by police.
Joanne Sharkey, 55, admitted to the manslaughter of her child when she appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today. She was arrested in 2023, 25 years after she killed her baby boy, at her Liverpool home.
Sitting on a sofa with her hands clasped, Sharkey was seen in police video being questioned by officers. An officer told her: “So, therefore I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of that child and also the concealment of that child. Do you understand what I have just said?
“I know what I have just said may come as a huge shock to you and obviously cause you distress but we are professional officers. We are going to treat you with the utmost respect.”
Sharkey is then seen pointing to another room before adding: “He doesn’t know anything.” She was referring to her husband Neil. Officers then tell her not to talk about the case until she is in custody and interviewed.
Neil was also arrested at the family home, but it became clear he had no knowledge she had been pregnant with a baby boy or that she killed him. A decision was later taken to take no further action against Neil.
The Crown Prosecution Service believes Neil was not aware of his wife’s pregnancy, the birth or the subsequent death. Joanne Sharkey was charged with murder and endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child on April 15 last year.
On March 14, 1998, at about 10.45am the naked body of a newborn baby boy was found by a local man who was out walking his dog with his young son. The baby’s body had been discarded inside two knotted bin bags in a wooded area off Camp Road near Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington. The discovery of the baby triggered a huge manhunt at the time. The child was given the name “baby Callum” after the Callands area of Warrington where he was found.
Following a guilty plea, Detective Inspector Hannah Friend, of Cheshire Police said: “The case of Baby Callum shocked the local community 27 years ago, with residents coming together to give him a proper funeral and try to help identify the person responsible for his death.
“Despite his life being cruelly cut short, he has not been forgotten, and his memory has lived on in the local area for the past few decades. Likewise, our efforts to locate who did this to him have not wavered and the case was subject to regular reviews and refreshed searches of the Police DNA Database.”
Sharkey will appear back at court on March 21 for sentencing.
