Harlow Collinge: Childminder Karen Foster jailed for 12 years and seven months for killing baby boy with ‘forceful shaking’
A childminder has been jailed for 12 years and seven months for killing a nine-month-old boy by shaking him to death in frustration.
Karen Foster, who was due to go on trial for the murder of nine-month-old Harlow Collinge, pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter last Friday after discussions with the child’s family.
The basis of the 62-year-old’s plea was that “forceful shaking” of Harlow caused his death after he had toppled over out of his high chair, started crying and she shook him in frustration, Preston Crown Court heard.
Mr Justice Barry Cotter said in court that Harlow was a “happy, healthy, much-loved” boy, but said Foster chose to continue childminding despite ill health and pain in her hip.
He noted she worked more than she should have under Ofsted rules and said this contributed to her “loss of temper”, before adding: “You should have been a safe pair of hands to which Gemma Collinge could ensure her precious child.
“I have no doubt you snapped on the 1 March 2022, in part due to the fact that you were not coping with the demands of caring for four children. You lost your temper and he was on the receiving end.
“You shook an [almost] ten-month-old child so violently to cause devastating injuries. His death was caused in the course of an assault.”
Harlow’s relatives shouted “scumbag bitch” and “I hate you” to Foster as she was led away from the dock.
Karen Foster. Pic: Lancashire Police via PA
‘He was a happy smiling baby’
In a statement she read in court, Gemma Collinge said: “How do I explain losing my son in such horrific circumstances? Harlow was enjoying his little life. He was a happy smiling baby.”
She shared her “guilt” about having made arrangements to move him to a nursery six weeks after first using Foster as a childminder over her concerns about the number of children being looked after by the 62-year-old.
Ms Collinge then spoke about “all the red flags I missed,” before telling the court that Foster tried to comfort her at the hospital and claimed Harlow had choked on pasta.
“She even put her arms around me. I can’t think of anything more evil. It is despicable,” she said.
“I blame myself every day for my son’s death. This monster, Karen Foster, deserves nothing. I hope her actions haunt her.”
Harlow died in hospital after emergency services were called to reports of a child in cardiac arrest at a property in Hapton, Burnley, in Lancashire on 1 March 2022.
Gemma Collinge told the court Karen Foster initially claimed Harlow had choked on pasta. Pic: GoFundMe
Baby’s skin ‘purple’
Harlow had been dropped off at Foster’s address – a registered childminder with nine years’ experience – in March 2022.
Later that day she called 999 and told the operator Harlow was not breathing, and went on to tell a paramedic he had suddenly collapsed, the court heard.
“I think he’s choking, he’s had like a fit and he’s not breathing,” she had said.
By 1.23pm, Harlow’s skin was purple and mottled, he had no pulse, was not breathing and his pupils were fixed, the court heard.
The baby was then rushed to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, but died four days later.
A CT scan of the infant’s head showed significant injuries to the brain, with bleeding on both sides and swelling.
A post-mortem listed the cause of death as inflicted traumatic brain injury.
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Foster made benefit claims for injury
Anne Whyte KC, prosecuting, said when she first registered in 2014, Foster did not say she was married and lived with her husband, or that she sometimes sought help with childminding from other unregistered individuals, or that her health was poor.
She told the court Foster had made two benefit claims for Personal Independence Payments in 2018 and 2022, where she claimed she felt constantly drowsy and tired, and that sometimes she could barely move or safely carry out daily living activities.
The childminder submitted the same claims in her 2022 application, which she made just days before Harlow’s death.
She also suggested she needed help cooking and going to the toilet.
Foster minded 10 children
Ms Whyte also said that a mother whose children were being looked after by Foster complained to Ofsted in December 2021, saying she was looking after too many children, on some occasions up to 10 youngsters.
But Foster told the regulator she did not exceed the permitted number of children and lied to other parents that she had been a nurse and her husband was also a registered childminder.
Her registration permitted her to care for a maximum of six children under the age of eight years.
Only three of the six could be “young” children – defined as young until September 1 following their fifth birthday – and only one child could be under the age of one.
On certain days, Foster was exceeding the ratio permitted by Ofsted, the court heard.
Foster also faced a further allegation of assaulting a two-year-old girl in her care in 2019.
The prosecution told the judge it will ask for that count to lie on file.
The King led the nation’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph during a two-minute silence.
Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, paid his respects without the Queen, who did not attend events in central London due to a chest infection.
He appeared alongside his son Prince William and daughter-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales, who carried out two consecutive public engagements for the first time this year after her cancer treatment ended.
Sunday was the King’s third Remembrance service as monarch.
King Charles at the Cenotaph on Sunday. Pic: PA
The King waits to lay his wreath. Pic: PA
Catherine, Princess of Wales on the balcony. Pic: PA
The Prince of Wales during the Remembrance Sunday service. Pic: PA
The Princess of Wales (left) and the Duchess of Edinburgh watch from the balcony. Pic: PA
Members of the Royal Family stand before the Cenotaph. Pic: PA
The Royal British Legion’s veteran parade along Whitehall featured 10,000 veterans from 326 different armed forces and civil organisations.
Similar memorial events took place in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, as well as smaller towns and cities.
Politicians from the four nations laid wreaths in capital cities, while veterans and their families also gathered for events in Portsmouth, the home of this year’s D-Day anniversary commemorations, and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Veterans in Portsmouth on Sunday. Pic: PA
People gather at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. Pic: PA
Thousand of people, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and eight of his predecessors, watched as the nation fell silent at 11am.
Among the former leaders were Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Lord David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Sir Tony Blair, and Sir John Major.
Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative Party leader, also laid a wreath alongside the prime minister.
Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch lay wreaths on Sunday. Pic: PA
Lord David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Sir Tony Blair, and Sir John Major. Pic: PA
On Saturday evening, the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, along with the King.
Hours beforehand, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Camilla would not be attending either of the Remembrance events. It is understood there is no cause for concern but that doctors did not want to hinder her recovery or put anyone else at risk.
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Princess of Wales at Remembrance Sunday
Members of the RAF Pipes and Drums band in Edinburgh. Pic: PA
First Minister Michelle ONeill lays a wreath at Belfast City Hall. Pic: PA
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of the Second World War and the 25th anniversary of the end of the war in Kosovo.
It also marks the 75th anniversary of NATO and the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between the UK and France.
The UK is ready to fight a war, the head of the armed forces has insisted, after the defence secretary recently suggested the military is not prepared for a conflict.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also stressed the importance of continuing to back Ukraine when asked about the potential impact of the re-election of Donald Trump on Russia’s war.
He said more than 1,500 Russian troops had been killed or injured in the warzone every day during October. That equates to more than 46,000 people – equivalent to more than half of the British Army.
The Chief of the Defence Staff used the Russian casualty figure to underline the cost to Vladimir Putin of his invasion, but analysts say the Kremlin has proven itself more than capable of absorbing high attrition rates without changing its war aims.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin 2023. Pic: Andrew Milligan/Pool via AP
Admiral Radakin was speaking in an interview on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips to mark Remembrance Sunday.
Asked if the UK could fight a war at scale, he said: “Absolutely. So our servicemen and women will always be ready to serve their nation and to do as the government of the day directs us to do.”
Last month, however, John Healey, the new Labour defence secretary, told a Politico podcast that the armed forces were not ready to fight after being hollowed out and under-funded during 14 years of Conservative rule.
In reality, the hollowing out and under-funding also took place under the previous Labour government.
John Healey joined serving military personnel to hand out poppies at Victoria Station in October. Pic: PA
Pressed by Trevor Phillips on whether the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had the capabilities to fight a war, Admiral Radakin said: “We do have the capabilities. And then the reassurance is that we do that alongside our allies.
“And for those biggest fights, then we will always do them with our allies.”
He conceded, though, that the UK needs to be “even stronger in the future”.
Admiral Radakin added: “Some of that is about having deeper stockpiles. Some of that is being better at bringing technology and learning the lessons from Ukraine… And some of that is also recognising that you need to have a defence industry that can better support those demands.
“We’re in a more dangerous world.”
Ukrainian troops continue to fight Russia’s invasion. Pic: King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade/Reuters
Russian airstrikes are still targeting Ukrainian cities. Pic: Reuters
The top commander repeatedly stressed the importance of being part of NATO to be able to counter the biggest threats faced by the UK.
But the re-election of Donald Trump to the White House has raised new concerns about US support for the transatlantic alliance. The United States is by far its most powerful member.
Pic: AP
The president-elect threatened to quit NATO when he was US commander-in-chief the first time around, and he has repeatedly berated member states that do not meet a minimum spending commitment of 2% of national income.
Mr Trump is also expected to take a different approach to the war in Ukraine to Joe Biden, saying he will end the fighting – but without yet explaining how.
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire at Russian positions from a US-supplied M777 howitzer in Kharkiv region. File pic: AP
The aftermath of a Russian strike on Ukraine. Pic: AP
Trevor Phillips asked Admiral Radakin how confident he was that the United States would continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.
The defence chief declined to speculate on potential US policy so soon after the election.
Instead, he said: “What you’re seeing is a Russia that is making tactical gains and is seizing more territory, but is doing that at enormous cost, enormous cost in terms of its soldiers – over 1,500 people a day are either killed or wounded in October.”
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Admiral Radakin also pointed out how the war prompted NATO to grow, with Finland and Sweden joining.
“At the strategic level, Russia is losing,” he said.
“Russia wanted to subjugate Ukraine. It’s never going to subjugate Ukraine.
“And that’s what we should be really clear about – that we continue our support for President Zelenskyy and his people in their existential fight.”
The UK could be spared the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff increases on foreign imports, a US governor has told Sky News.
In the aftermath of the Republican candidate’s decisive election win over Kamala Harris this week, attention is turning to what the former president will do on his return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs – taxes on imported products – on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries.
But there are fears in foreign capitals about what this could do to their economies. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for the UK’s economic growth next year from 1.6% to 1.4%, while EU officials are anticipating a reduction in exports to the US of €150bn (£125bn).
Donald Trump says he wants to impose tariffs on foreign goods
However, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy – a Democrat – says he believes Mr Trump may consider not including the UK in the tariff plans.
Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the governor said he cannot speak for the president-elect but he has a “good relationship” with him.
His gut feeling is that Mr Trump will not impose tariffs on goods from allies like the UK. “But if I’m China, I’m fastening my seatbelt right now,” he said.
Mr Murphy said that Mr Trump may look favourably at the UK after its departure from the European Union.
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The president-elect is considering offering the UK a special deal that would exempt British exports from billions of pounds of tariffs, according to The Telegraph.
“Donald Trump (has) some sympathy with the renegade who has courage,” Mr Murphy continued. “I think there’s some of that. I think that’s a card that can be played. We’ll see.”
Asked about whether UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer can build a rapport with the incoming president, Mr Murphy said: “I’ve been able to find common ground with President Trump, and I’m a proud progressive, although I’m a cold-blooded capitalist, which is probably the part of me that President Trump resonates with.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “confident” trade flows with the United States will continue despite the tariff proposal.
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The suggestion – ironic, given the PM’s hostility to Brexit and his pledge for a “reset” with the EU – has been made by a Trump ally and confidant, albeit a leading Democrat.
The claim comes from Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, in an interview for Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.
Murphy says he has a good relationship with Trump, who has a palatial home he calls the Summer White House, a 500-acre estate and a golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, just 45 minutes from Trump Tower in New York.
He says his “gut feeling” is that Trump has sympathy with the UK for having the courage to pull out of the EU, “this big bureaucratic blob” and “that’s a card that can be played” by the UK in trade talks.
Really? As Trevor politely pointed out, that might benefit the UK if the prime minister was Nigel Farage rather than Sir Keir.
Mr Farage, however, speaking at a Reform UK regional conference in Exeter, described Trump as a “pro-British American president” who’d give the UK “potentially huge opportunities”.
But there’s one problem, according to the Reform UK leader. Favours from Trump will only come, he claims, “if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the cabinet have been rude about him”.
You can watch the full interview with Governor Phil Murphy as well as other guests on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am.
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