Adoptive parents' lies led to boy's murder - coroner

A couple's failure to tell social workers about their struggles with a baby they wanted to adopt led to the boy's murder, a coroner has said.

Dr Nicholas Shaw, Cumbria's assistant coroner, said Castle and her husband, Scott Castle, who was cleared of wrongdoing, were "simply not truthful".

He concluded on Tuesday that adoption process flaws did not play a key role.

The inquest in Carlisle heard Leiland-James was taken into care two days after he was born in Whitehaven in December 2019, and was placed with the Castles in August 2020.

About four and a half months later, Laura Castle violently shook him and may have banged his head against a hard surface resulting in a devastating brain injury.

Pathologists also found signs he had been physically abused, with marks suggesting he had been slapped, pinched and poked on the day he was fatally injured.

Castle admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of murder at Preston Crown Court where she was jailed in May 2022 for life with a minimum term of 18 years.

Scott Castle, who was in bed when Leiland-James was fatally injured, was cleared of causing or allowing the boy's death.

Cumbria County Council social workers said they had concerns about the Castles not bonding with Leiland-James but had no worries for his safety.

A review found procedures had been followed but there were "holes" in the adoption system, mainly that it relied too much on prospective parents being "open and honest" about their health and finances.

Council officials said lessons had been learned and the processes made more "rigorous" and "robust".

The inquest heard the Castles admitted to having attachment issues, with Laura Castle telling a social worker she did not love Leiland-James and did not think he liked her. However, they were adamant they wanted to proceed with his placement with a view to an eventual adoption.

Messages uncovered by police after Leiland-James' death told a different story, with Castle telling her husband she regretted taking the boy in and calling him a "moaning whinge bag" who she would have to stop "smacking".

In his conclusion, Dr Shaw said it was a "distressing" case and "horrible to listen to" what happened.

He said the Castles were "simply not truthful" with social workers about their financial and health difficulties or about how they were treating Leiland-James.

Dr Shaw said had the Castles been honest about their financial struggles for example, exacerbated by Mr Castle being put on furlough during the Covid pandemic, it was likely Leiland-James would not have been placed with them.

"We don't know why they didn't ask for help," the coroner said, adding: "This is the thing I don't understand."

He also said there was "disturbing reference" to beatings of Leiland-James in "abusive messages" between the Castles, both of whom had signed a council document saying they would not use physical chastisement.

Dr Shaw said there was a "lack of urgency" from social workers after they noticed a "lack of joy" from Laura Castle with Leiland-James, but the "most important factor was the Castles were never truthful about their situation".

He said an "excellent and detailed" review by independent assessor Nicki Pettitt identified issues in the adoption process which the council had since rectified, and had also led to "national learning".

Dr Shaw said he was reassured there were 30 adoptions a year in Cumbria, only one of which had resulted in a child being handed back in the last four years.

He concluded Leiland-James had been unlawfully killed and the "significant causative factor" was the couple's "failure to disclose fully their circumstances" before he was placed with them, and then their "failure to ask for help with the difficulties they were having caring" for him or to ask for him to be taken back into foster care.

He said he had heard no evidence the problems in the adoption process were anything more than "minimally causative".

Leiland-James' birth mother, Laura Corkill, said Castle was a "monster" who should "rot in hell".

Dr Shaw said he thought Ms Corkill "had hoped the couple that adopted Leiland-James would give him a better life than she could", adding: "How dreadfully that illusion was shattered."