A mother has confessed to killing her newborn son nearly 27 years after his body was found in a plastic bag.
The child’s body was discovered near a theme park
On March 14, 1998, a man was out for a walk with his son and dog when he stumbled across something awful. Two black bin bags, tied shut. Inside there was a baby’s body.
When the baby was found, no one knew his real name
People started calling him Baby Callum because his body was discovered near Callands, a neighborhood in Warrington, Cheshire, close to Gulliver’s World theme park.
The man rushed to the theme park for help
Luckily, a pediatrician happened to be there that day. They hurried over to the scene, checked the baby, that’s when Baby Callum was officially pronounced dead.
For decades, no one knew who the baby was
But about three years ago, detectives reopened the case and ran a fresh DNA test. That’s when they got a match: Joanne Sharkey. Her DNA was already in the police database, and the mystery of Baby Callum finally had some answers.
A post-mortem revealed shocking details
The autopsy confirmed the baby had been full-term when he died. Doctors also found pieces of tissue stuffed in his mouth and throat.
That’s when the police kicked off a full-blown murder investigation
They went door to door, checked with hospitals, midwives, GP clinics, and even schools, hoping to find answers.
They managed to get full DNA profiles, both from the baby’s blood and from traces of his mother’s blood on the bin bags. Investigators swabbed a huge number of people in the area, searching for a match.
Meanwhile, locals helped give Baby Callum a funeral
About 150 people from the neighbohood raised money for his funeral and a headstone, making sure he wasn’t forgotten.
A DNA breakthrough finally identified the mother
In January 2022, Cheshire police reopened the case, running new tests on DNA evidence. That’s when they found a partial match in the national database—someone related to Sharkey.
Joanne Sharkey was the baby’s mother, and her husband, Neil, was the father.
In July 2023, police arrested the couple
They already had an older son together—born 20 months before Baby Callum.
But as it turned out, Neil Sharkey had no idea his wife had even been pregnant again, so the police let him go.
Experts found that she suffered from post-natal depression
In court, prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC explained that experts—psychiatrists from both sides—agreed on one thing: Joanne Sharkey had been struggling with post-natal depression when it happened.
He went on to say that her mental state at the time seriously affected her ability to think clearly, make rational decisions, and control her actions.
Sharkey pleaded guilty in court
Joanne Sharkey looked put-together. But as she confessed to what she did, her hands shook.
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She was charged with murder last April and was supposed to stand trial on March 6. But instead, she pleaded guilty—manslaughter by diminished responsibility and for hiding her son’s birth.
She will be sentenced in March
Judge Mrs. Justice Eadie postponed the case to allow time for reports to be prepared. Until then, Sharkey was released on conditional bail. She’s set to be sentenced on March 21.
