Childminder ADMITS killing baby boy by shaking him ‘in frustration’ when he fell from chair and cried
A CHILDMINDER has admitted killing a nine-month-old baby by shaking him "in frustration" when he fell from a chair and cried.
Harlow Collinge was rushed to hospital in March 2022 after the horror in Hapton, Lancashire.
Tragically the baby couldn't be saved and was declared dead four days later.
His family wept today as Karen Foster, 62, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Preston Crown Court.
The childminder was due to stand trial for murder but her plea was accepted by prosecutors.
Foster, who was a registered child minder with nine years experience, now faces life in jail when she sentenced on June 13.
Judge Barry Cotter KC told the court he had seen the basis of Foster’s plea.
He said: “It states that he [Harlow] toppled over out of his chair and banged his head and started crying and she shook him in frustration.”
Foster was charged over Harlow's death after police launched an investigation into the tragedy.
A post mortem revealed his cause of death was an inflicted traumatic brain injury.
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Foster was also accused of attacking a two-year-old girl in a separate incident in March 2019.
But the prosecution asked for a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm to lie on file.
A page set up after Harlow’s death received more than £10,000 to help his family.
In a tribute on the fundraiser, a family friend described Harlow as a “funny, playful baby who loved Peter Rabbit, milkshakes and pink wafer biscuits”.
She added: “He loved it when his sister sang Adele songs to him, he loved his doggies and running around in his baby walker.
"He loved his family, his Mummy and Daddy, brother and sisters, and his grandparents so much.
“He has left a Harlow shaped hole no one can fill.”
