NO county council staff have been disciplined following an investigation into how looked-after child Leiland-James Corkill was murdered by a woman who hoped to adopt him. 

A review found that Laura Castle previously told a therapist she had anger management issues and drank six bottles of wine a week.

But the 'critical information' disclosed by Laura Castle was not shared with her GP and consequently was not available to the adoption panel that went on to approve her.

Castle, 38, was jailed in May for a minimum of 18 years for the murder of one-year-old Leiland-James, who had been placed with her and husband Scott, 35, less than five months before his death from catastrophic head injuries.

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

A child safeguarding practice review into the case revealed that Castle had 'deliberately misled' social workers during the adoption process.

Cumbria County Council said in light of that none of its staff had faced any discplinary action.

Castle, who already had a birth child, was receiving 'talking therapy' with an NHS-commissioned service when she applied in January 2019 to be an adoptive parent.

Information held by the First Step programme showed she had issues with 'low mood, anxiety and anger management;.

The review added: "This included her self-report that she was often irritable and short-tempered, including shouting too much at her young child.

"She spoke about feeling judged by other parents and that she avoided company. She also reported drinking six bottles of wine a week which impacted on her motivation and mood, although she denied it had an impact on her parenting."

Castle failed to mention those details in the adoption application process and no safeguarding concerns were raised by First Step, which was not aware the couple had applied to adopt, the review said.

It added the service informed her GP of its involvement with Castle between December 2018 and April 2019 but did not include any details on what was discussed with her.

The review discovered that concerns were raised in September 2020 by a gastroenterologist following a consultation with Castle that she reported drinking 27 units of alcohol per week and it was thought to be affecting her health.

This information was shared with her GP but neither the health issue nor the alcohol use was shared with any other agency.

The Castles did not share the information either and also did not give a full picture about their financial situation.

Following publication of the report, John Readman, Cumbria County Council's executive director for people, said: "The Castles went through a full eight-month assessment and approval process involving criminal record checks, multiple references and extensive training. No concerns were raised by anyone, in any agency, about their suitability to become adopters.

"What we know now, from the trial and this review, is that Laura Castle deliberately and repeatedly misled and lied to social workers about vitally important aspects of her life, including her mental and physical health, her alcohol use and debts.

"We also know that relevant information about Laura Castle was not shared between agencies and that more could have been done to clarify some of the information we were provided with."