Overview

• Joanne Sharkey, 55, was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term for the manslaughter of her newborn son, Baby Callum, in 1998.
• The case was solved in 2023 when a cold case review linked Sharkey to the infant through DNA evidence from her firstborn son.
• Sharkey, who kept her pregnancy a secret, suffocated the baby shortly after giving birth at home while suffering from undiagnosed postnatal depression.
• Psychiatric reports presented in court concluded her mental illness severely impaired her judgment and decision-making at the time of the crime.
• The judge emphasized compassion in sentencing, stating that immediate imprisonment would serve no societal purpose given Sharkey’s remorse and the mitigating circumstances.