According to the report, key information about the adoptive mother was not shared before the baby was killed

Information about drink, debt and mental health that could have prevented a boy from being placed with a foster mother who murdered him was not shared between agencies, an investigation has concluded.

It also found that when the mother told social workers she was struggling to bond with the child, not enough support was given to the family.

Leiland-James Corkill was cared for from birth and, at seven months old, was placed with Laura and Scott Castle, a couple from Barrow-in-Furness.

Five months later, shortly after his first birthday, the baby died as a result of catastrophic head injuries.

Laura Castle was found guilty of murder in May and was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 18 years.

Castle of Laura Picture: Cumbria Police/PA

The precise details of what happened may never be known. But a trial at Preston Crown Court heard that Castle lost his temper with the baby when he kept crying after breakfast, and violently shook him to death.

In a letter to the trial judge, the baby’s biological mother, Laura Corkill, said: “He was put in a monster’s house.”

Mr Corkill, from Whitehaven, said his son would be alive today if he had been allowed to keep him and criticized the actions of Cumbria County Council.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “Why did they put him there? Why did they take so long to pick it up? They should have canceled the adoption order.”

Laura Corkill pictured with Leiland-James on a visit to a contact centre. Photography: Laura Corkill

The independent report into the boy’s death, released Thursday, concluded there was relevant information that could have been more fully shared between agencies.

For example, at the time of the adoption assessment, Castle told a therapy service that he drank six bottles of wine a week and had problems with low mood, anxiety and managing of anger He talked about yelling at his biological daughter too much.

A consultant gastroenterologist also raised concerns about his drinking and the information was shared with his GP.

The report says Castle told a social worker she was struggling and was worried she wasn’t loving the baby as much as she had hoped. The report says there should have been “a more timely and robust response” to these concerns.

Lesley Walker, an independent scrutineer for Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership, said social workers needed to seek information and not rely on what they were told. They must be “very curious and ready to challenge all areas of daily work with children and families”.

John Readman, Cumbria County Council’s chief executive of people, said the authority was deeply sorry and offered his condolences.

He said the Castles went through an eight-month evaluation process and no one from either agency raised any concerns about their suitability.

“What we now know, 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, his drinking and his debts,” Readman said. .

“We also now 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 that was provided to us.

“Had the full picture of Laura Castle’s life been known, the assessment of her suitability as an adopter would have been better able to consider the vulnerabilities and potential risks of adoption.”

Readman said she accepted Castle told social workers she was struggling to bond with the baby.

“The report highlights that more should have been done to support the family,” he said. “We recognize that and have since made changes to the way we work.” He added: “I am absolutely committed to making sure we do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again, here or anywhere else.”

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Sarah O’Brien, the chief nursing officer for Lancashire and South Cumbria, said the circumstances of Leiland-James’ death would stay with them for a long time.

“Ensuring that professionals share information openly and proactively throughout the adoption process is vital, and we are saddened and disappointed that the review has highlighted a number of gaps where this needs to be improved,” he said O’Brien.

“The lack of robust information sharing continues to show up in child death reviews nationally and for Leiland-James, information sharing was not good enough during critical stages of the adoption process. local action has been taken to address this and a recommendation has also been made to change national guidance.”

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