CLIPS from police interviews with child killer Laura Castle show how she gave a story she would later contradict in court.  

The 38-year-old gave a series of interviews with officers after baby Leiland-James Corkill died from injuries sustained in her home in January 2021.

Videos released by police show he she originally told officers the one-year-old had fallen from her lap, standing up to demonstrate what had happened.

She describes sitting on the sofa with the baby she hoped to adopt when she reached for wipes to wipe his face before he fell off lap and onto the floor.

When she appeared in court, she admitted that she had shaken the baby before he hit his head on the sofa and later the floor.

Another clip released by officers months down the line shows her refusing to answer questions put to her by police.

The clips have been released by Cumbria Police after Castle was jailed for the murder of Leiland-James.

She was planning to adopt the boy when she shook him to death on January 6 last year.

He died from brain injuries the next day.  

 

The youngster, from Whitehaven, was a "looked-after child" who was taken into care at birth before he was approved to live with his prospective adoptive parents from August 2020.

Laura Castle rang for an ambulance on January 6 and reported Leiland-James had fallen off the sofa, injured his head and was struggling to breathe.

However, hospital medics raised concerns as the extent of his injuries did not match her account.

Leiland-James died the following day as Laura Castle maintained to police, as well as family and friends, that the death was a tragic accident while her husband, a night shift worker, was asleep.

She stuck to her story until the day the jury was sworn in last month for her trial at Preston Crown Court when she pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Medical experts told the court that the degree of force required to cause Leiland-James' injuries would have been "severe" and likely to be a combination of shaking and an impact with a solid surface.

Prosecutor Michael Brady QC said it was the Crown's case she killed the boy as she lost her temper and suggested she smashed the back of his head against a piece of furniture.