Woman to appear in court charged with murder of baby found in woodland in 1998

Baby ‘Callum’ was discovered close to the Gulliver’s World theme park in the Callands area of Warrington in March 1998.
The Rev Mark Chilcott conducts the service for baby Callum in St Elphin’s Church, Warrington, in 1998 (PA)
PA Archive
Pa Reporter15 April 2024

A 54-year-old woman will appear in court on Tuesday charged with the murder of a baby found in woodland in Warrington more than 25 years ago.

Baby “Callum” was discovered close to the Gulliver’s World theme park in the Callands area of the town in March 1998 and a murder investigation was launched.

Joanne Sharkey, of West Derby in Liverpool, will appear in custody at Warrington Magistrates’ Court charged with the murder.

Detective Inspector Hannah Friend, of Cheshire Police’s Major Crime Review Team, said: “I understand that this is an extremely emotional case which has attracted a lot of attention over the past 26 years, however I would ask people not to speculate.

“Criminal proceedings are now active against Joanne Sharkey, and she has the right to a fair trial.

“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”

A man was arrested in July 2023 but has been released without charge, Cheshire Police said.

Detectives named the infant Callum after the Callands district of Warrington where he was found dead, as his true identity could not be confirmed.

A burial and funeral service were arranged by local people and he was buried in Warrington Cemetery a few months later.

The headstone, which was paid for with money raised by local residents, was inscribed: “Baby Callum, precious child of God. Laid to rest July 27, 1998. With love, from the people of Warrington.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in