A woman has admitted killing a baby boy who she wanted to adopt.
Laura Castle, 38, of Eskdale Avenue, Barrow, appeared at Preston Crown Court and admitted the manslaughter of Leiland-James Corkill after he suffered injuries consistent with an assault at their home. She denies murder.
Her husband Scott Castle is accused of causing or allowing the death of a child and both parents are charged with child cruelty.
The court heard Leiland-James, of Whitehaven, was placed with Castle and her husband Scott, 34, in August 2020 after they were approved for adoption by Cumbria County Council.
But within days of taking the baby home, it became clear Laura Castle was struggling.
On January 6, 2021, Castle called 999, saying Leiland-James had fallen from a sofa.
He was taken to Furness General Hospital and was found to have a bleed on the brain.
He was transferred to the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool and was found to have catastrophic head injuries and was pronounced dead on January 7.
Staff raised concerns that the injuries were not consistent with the accounts given by Castle and her husband and the pair were arrested by Merseyside police.
Text messages on their phones revealed messages between the pair had referred to the eight-month-old ‘in increasingly aggressive and unpleasant terms’.
In November 2020 social workers dealing with the adoption process expressed concerns and in December of that year, social workers said they would not approve the final adoption until further therapeutic work took place to address bonding issues.
The trial will resume on Tuesday and is expected to last a week.
