A mother who suffocated her newborn baby and left his body in woodland has avoided jail today after finally being brought to justice nearly three decades later.

Joanne Sharkey, 55, had pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child – following her arrest 25 years after the body of her son was found inside two knotted bin bags.

But Sharkey, a 28-year-old council worker at the time of baby Callum’s death, was today given only a two-year suspended prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court.

Judge Mrs Justice Eady told Sharkey: ‘The real question is whether appropriate punishment can only be achieved by a term of immediate custody. Having carefully considered this issue, I am satisfied that this very sad case calls for compassion.’

It comes 27 years after the baby, who was later named as Callum, was discovered by a dog walker near Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington on March 14, 1998.

Sharkey, of West Derby, Liverpool, was traced more than two decades later through DNA checks after the arrest of her other son – and later admitted that she killed the baby while suffering from postnatal depression after the birth of her first son in 1996.

Detectives named the infant Callum after the Callands district of the Cheshire town where he was found dead, because his true identity could not be confirmed. 

A funeral service was arranged by local people for the boy – believed to have been born at full term – and he was buried in Warrington Cemetery a few months later.

The headstone, paid for with money raised by locals, said: ‘Baby Callum, precious child of God. Laid to rest July 27, 1998. With love, from the people of Warrington.’

Joanne Sharkey was initially charged with murder and concealing the birth of a baby

The funeral procession for baby Callum at St Elphin’s Church in Warrington on July 27, 1998

Passing sentence at Liverpool Crown Court, Mrs Justice Eady told Sharkey she accepted her mental state at the time had ‘substantially impaired your ability to form rational judgments’ and since then had been ‘haunted’ by what she had done.

Sharkey sat shaking with emotion and wiping away tears as the judge said she would pass a suspended sentence.

The defendant’s family in the public gallery broke down in tears and exchanged hugs.

Mrs 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.’

Sharkey was given a two-year prison sentence for manslaughter and six months for the offence of concealment of the birth of a child, to run concurrent and both suspended for two years.

It came nearly 10,000 days since the morning of March 14, 1998, when Callum’s body was found at 10.45am by a local man out walking his dog with his young son in a wooded area off Camp Road, near Gulliver’s World.

Joanne Sharkey pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child

The body had been discarded inside two knotted bin bags and was discovered after the man became curious as to what was inside, and poked a hole in them with a stick.

Upon the discovery, he sought help from the theme park and a paediatrician happened to be present, who confirmed the body was that of a baby boy. Callum was pronounced dead at 11.25am.

Due to findings from a post-mortem, Cheshire Constabulary launched a murder investigation – and a full DNA sample was taken from the baby, as well as from blood found on the bin bags.

This identified the DNA profile of the mother of the baby, but there was no match on the police database for her. 

A partial DNA profile for the father was obtained, but there was again no match.

Police said DNA swabs were taken from a large number of people living locally at the time, but none provided a match.

Officers carried out house-to-house enquiries with hundreds of people interviewed, and spoke to local hospitals, midwife services, GPs, other medical services and schools, to identify any women or girls who may had given birth recently.

But despite all the force’s efforts and anniversary media appeals in the following years, nothing led to the identification of Callum’s parents.

The coffin of Callum during his funeral at St Elphin’s Church in Warrington on July 27, 1998

A court artist’s sketch of Joanne Sharkey at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on April 16, 2024

The case stayed on a list of ‘cold’ cases and was regular reviewed including searches of the police DNA database and further DNA analysis as advances in science were made.

Then, the current investigation that led to the parents being identified began in January 2022.

Cheshire Constabulary’s Major Crime Review Team carried out further DNA analysis and identified the mother as Sharkey.

This happened after a familial link was identified between the baby and somebody who was related to him, who had been added to the police DNA database in the years since searches were last completed.

Sharkey and the baby’s father were arrested on July 28, 2023 on suspicion of murder – and DNA samples were obtained, which confirmed that they were his parents.

Both were later released on bail while enquiries continued.

The man was released without facing charges – but Sharkey was charged in April 2024 with murder and concealing the birth.

On March 6, Sharkey pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and concealing the birth of a child.

Callum was discovered close to Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington in March 1998.

The approach road to Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington where baby Callum was found

The Crown Prosecution Service said medical evidence concluded that Sharkey had an ‘abnormality of mental functioning’ at the time of the offence ‘arising out of a medical condition’ and this ‘substantially impaired her ability to form a rational judgement and to exercise self-control’.

It was added that this ’caused or was a significant contributory factor in causing her to kill her newborn child’.

Following the sentencing, Cheshire Constabulary Detective Inspector Hannah Friend said: ‘The case of Baby Callum has stayed with the local community for 27 years; he has never been forgotten, and his memory has lived on in the area ever since.

‘But our efforts to locate who cut his innocent life short have never wavered over the years, and the case was subject to regular reviews and refreshed searches of the national DNA database.

‘It was thanks to this that a familial DNA match was identified, and following a thorough investigation, Sharkey was identified, arrested and later charged.

‘I would again like to thank the officers and staff involved throughout this investigation, whether this was back in 1998, or more recently, whose dedication meant someone was brought before the courts to be held accountable for a baby’s untimely death.

‘While the sentencing hearing today marks the end of these proceedings, we will continue to remember Callum, as will all those who have been affected by this tragic case.’