Family of nine-month-old shaken to loss of life by childminder pay tribute

A childminder who killed a nine-month-old boy by ‘forcefully’ shaking him when he began crying after falling out of his high chair was today branded a ‘monster’ by his family as she was jailed.

Karen Foster, 62, admitted the manslaughter of Harlow Collinge, a ‘happy, healthy’ baby who tragically died in hospital after suffering head injuries at her bungalow in Hapton, Lancashire in March 2022.

As the grandmother was jailed for 12 years and seven months it emerged that she had repeatedly lied to Ofsted – which registers childminders – and claimed benefits on the grounds she struggled with basic daily tasks.

Harlow’s mother had become so concerned about the scenes she witnessed when picking him up that she arranged to move him to a local nursery, the court heard.

Tragically, however, he was not able to start until after his first birthday – a milestone he would never reach after being cruelly shaken by Foster, causing massive brain injuries.

In a moving statement read to the court today, Harlow’s mother Gemma slammed Foster as ‘twisted’ and ‘pure evil’ for putting the family through a two-year ‘nightmare’ before finally admitting killing her son.

Ms Collinge said she had become convinced during the six weeks for which Foster cared for Harlow that ‘something was not right about this woman’.

‘My instinct was right,’ she added.

But reassured by the fact other parents entrusted their children with Foster, and fearing she was being ‘overprotective’, Ms Collinge said she ‘kept taking him back’.

‘This is hard to live with.’

Saying she remains crippled by guilt for not acting sooner on her concerns about Foster, she added: ‘I blame myself every day for my son’s death.’

Recalling how Foster callously put her arms around her after she dashed to hospital to see Harlow despite knowing the childminder knowing she had caused his catastrophic injuries herself, Ms Collinge added: ‘I can’t think of anything more despicable.’

Ms Collinge said she hoped Foster would be ‘haunted’ for the rest of her life by what she had done.

Branding her ‘a monster’, she added: ‘She has committed the worst crime in the world.’

Foster had lied to Ofsted that she lived alone when in fact she shared the house with her husband, Preston Crown Court heard.

At the time she shook Harlow to death she was looking after two babies – despite her registration requiring her to care for just one – as well as two older children.

Foster – who also lied to parents about being a former nurse – claimed she took on additional children due to struggling financially in lockdown.

Jailing her, the judge, Mr Justice Cotter, said he had no doubt she had ‘snapped’ on the day of the tragedy because she wasn’t ‘coping’ with the demands of caring for four children.

‘You lost your temper and he was on the receiving end,’ he said.

But he told Foster she had brought the pressures on herself, saying: ‘You chose to put financial gain before a young child’s welfare.’

Harlow – ‘a funny, playful baby who loved Peter Rabbit, milkshakes and pink wafer biscuits’ – was dropped off by his mother with Foster, a registered childminder of nine years’ experience, on March 1, 2022.

But shortly after 1pm Foster rang 999 to say he wasn’t breathing and ‘she thought he was choking’, the court heard.

She later told a paramedic he ‘finished his dinner then collapsed’.

But a CT scan of the infant’s head showed significant injuries to the brain.

Foster was initially arrested on suspicion of assault before Harlow tragically died at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital four days later.

It later emerged that another baby being looked after by Foster had been seen in hospital three years earlier with bruising to the face, but no further action was taken.

As well as being accused of murdering Harlow, Foster was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the second child.

That count was ordered to lie on file.

No safeguarding review is being held into Harlow’s tragic death after a national panel of experts concluded that none was required.

Grey-haired Foster, who walks with a crutch, had been due to stand trial accused of Harlow, which she denied.

But before the jury was sworn in last week, prosecutors said they were instead accepting her guilty plea to manslaughter.

She sat grimacing in the dock as the scale of her betrayal was spelt out today.

As she was led down to the cells, relatives of Harlow sitting in the public gallery shouted ‘scumbag’ and ‘horrible woman’.

Afterwards specialist Crown prosecutor Karen Tonge said: ‘Harlow was just nine months old when Foster forcefully shook him, causing a catastrophic head injury which led to his death just four days later.

‘Far from being remorseful following Harlow’s death, Foster prolonged the trauma suffered by Harlow’s loved ones by refusing to take responsibility for her actions until the trial was due to start.

‘The Crown Prosecution Service worked with Greater Manchester Police to build a compelling case against Foster.

‘The investigation revealed Foster had lied to Ofsted about her personal circumstances and health and that she had been caring for more children than her registration permitted.

‘She had lied to parents by telling them that she was a qualified nurse when that was not true.

‘She also lied to Harlow’s mother at hospital when she gave her the impression that she had ‘saved him’.

‘The evidence suggested she was overstretched and in declining health and that for no good reason she lost her temper with Harlow.

‘In the end, the strength of the evidence was such that Foster had no option but to accept she was responsible for Harlow’s death.

‘Harlow should be with his family today. My thoughts remain with Harlow’s family who suffer this unimaginable loss.’

Lancashire Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership offered its ‘deepest condolences’ to Harlow’s family.

In a statement it said: ‘A rapid review meeting of key safeguarding partners was undertaken to establish the circumstances surrounding his death, to consider any learning for the partners and to ascertain whether a child safeguarding practice review was required.

‘The result of the review was forwarded to the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, who agreed a safeguarding review was not required.’

Ofsted suspended Foster’s registration in 2022 after concerns were raised.

Asked about whether it had been made aware of concerns about Foster before Harlow’s death, an Ofsted spokeswoman said its policy was not to comment on ‘individual providers’. 

Det Supt Allen Davies, of Lancashire Police’s Major Investigation Team, said: ‘Before this reprehensible assault committed by Karen Foster, Harlow Collinge was a healthy and happy baby boy who had his whole life ahead of him. That life was so cruelly and unfathomably snatched away by a woman who Harlow’s parents had put their trust in to keep their little boy safe.

‘Having inflicted such a devastating and catastrophic injury on Harlow, Foster spun a web of lies which she continued to repeat to medical professionals, the police and Harlow’s parents about how he came to be so gravely unwell. Her purpose was to try and protect herself rather than be honest about the child she had a duty of care to keep safe.

‘To make it worse for the family, Foster has continued with those lies for over two years, whilst they have been waiting for answers as to what happened to their son and why.

‘This has been a detailed and meticulous investigation managed by a dedicated investigation team who have worked incredibly hard, along with the prosecuting team. The case of evidence proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Foster was solely responsible for Harlow’s unlawful killing, meaning Foster finally admitted her guilt last week.

‘This case will without doubt leave a lasting impression on everybody who played a part in getting justice for Harlow. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank and praise everybody involved.

‘My thoughts remain with Harlow’s family who have behaved with dignity while dealing with such an unimaginable and unexpected loss. They have gone through so much pain, exacerbated by the amount of time it took Foster to admit to what she had done. They have endured every parent’s worst nightmare and have shown great strength and bravery.’