Killer Laura Castle 'deliberately misled' social workers

Cumbria County Council has issued an apology after the report found lessons needed to be learned following the one-year-old's death.

The council said Castle, who already had a child, misled social workers in the process of adopting the child by withholding certain information, while the review concluded authorities should have been robust in obtaining those details.

A child safeguarding practice review into the case revealed that Castle 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 of their financial situation.

They had significant loans and credit card debt but the design of their assessment form did not clearly ask for the total money owed, which 'enabled the family to disguise what they owed and they were only paying the minimum amount each month'.

Report author Nicki Pettitt concluded 'indicators emerged' following Leiland-James's placement that it 'might not progress to be the right placement', but there were no known signs he was at risk of physical harm.

John Readman, the executive director for people at Cumbria County Council, said the council was 'deeply sorry' for Leiland-James’ death and that 'it should not have happened'.

He said: “Our adoption service has successfully found loving families for hundreds of children over many years. But understandably people have questioned how Laura Castle was approved as an adopter given what she did and what was revealed in court.

“That’s why this is such an important report, and we fully accept its findings and recommendations. Importantly it highlights issues that need national action, as well as action for us here in Cumbria.

“Already we have taken steps to strengthen the checks we do on people who want to adopt, how we work with the NHS, and how we support adoptive families. There is of course more to do but we have already made improvements.

“The Castles went through a full eight-month assessment and approval process involving criminal records 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 now 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.

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

He added: The report clearly highlights the vulnerabilities in the process when prospective adopters repeatedly lie about their lives and circumstances.

“We have already made changes to how we work locally and will continue to implement the recommendations in this report in addition to making the case for changes to order to strengthen national procedures. I am absolutely committed to ensuring we do all we possibly can to prevent something like this happening again, here or anywhere else.”