Overview

• Joanne Sharkey, 55, received a two-year suspended prison sentence for the manslaughter of her newborn son, Baby Callum, in 1998.
• The court acknowledged Sharkey's undiagnosed postnatal depression at the time, which significantly impaired her judgment and self-control.
• Baby Callum's body was discovered in Warrington woodland in 1998, but Sharkey was only identified in 2023 through a DNA match with her firstborn son.
• Sharkey expressed deep remorse for the crime, describing it as a haunting burden she has carried daily for 25 years.
• The judge emphasized compassion in the sentencing, ruling that immediate imprisonment would serve no useful purpose given Sharkey's mental health history and long-term guilt.