Childminder jailed for killing baby lied to Ofsted and claimed benefits for 'poor health'

A childminder who shook a nine-month-old boy to death made benefit claims alleging she could not safely carry out daily activities as well as lied to Ofsted.

Karen Foster, 62, left nine-month-old Harlow Collinge with unsurvivable brain injuries after shaking him in 'frustration' at her home in Lancashire.

She was jailed for 12 years and seven months after admitting manslaughter, where the judge was told just days before Harlow's death she claimed she needed help cooking and going to the toilet.

Preston Crown Court heard Foster, herself a mother-of-two and grandmother, had been a childminder registered with Ofsted for nine years before Harlow’s death.

But when she first registered in 2014, she 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.

Foster made two benefit claims for Personal Independence Payments in 2018 and 2022, claiming she felt constantly drowsy and tired, that sometimes she could barely move, or safely carry out daily living activities.

This was all repeated in her 2022 application, just days before Harlow’s death, suggesting she needed help cooking and going to the toilet.

In December 2021, one mother whose children Foster looked after complained to Ofsted 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.

Of the six, a maximum of three could be “young” children, defined as young until 1 September following their fifth birthday, but only one child could be under the age of one.

But on certain days, Foster was exceeding the ratio permitted by Ofsted, the court heard.

Gemma Collinge, Harlow's mum, spoke of the same concerns to her family and she had already made arrangements to move her son to a local nursery, but they could only take him until his first birthday.

On March 1, 2022, Foster was looking after two children aged four and two, including Harlow, under 12 months - breaking the rules of her registration with Ofsted.

He was dropped off by Ms Collinge at around 11am and all the children were taken to a local park, returning to Foster’s home at 12.45pm.

Within half an hour, Foster called 999, to say Harlow was not breathing, adding: “I think he’s choking, he’s had like a fit and he’s not breathing.”

Paramedics arrived at 1.23pm, Harlow’s skin was purple and mottled, he had no pulse, was not breathing and his pupils were fixed, the court heard.

As he was rushed to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Foster told medics that Harlow’s mother had said the youngster had been unwell recently.

But Anne Whyte KC, prosecuting said the truth began to emerge as scans were taken of the boy, showing significant injuries to his brain, associated with the shaking of a baby and he was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Consultants there agreed surgical intervention was not possible due to the “catastrophic” injuries to his brain.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said it relied on "childminders being open and honest".

"Our thoughts are with the family of Harlow Collinge at this time," they said in a statement.

"As an inspectorate and regulator, we rely on childminders being honest and open with us, and to report any changes in circumstance so that we can take appropriate action.

"But we also continuously focus on improving our own work, and when tragic cases occur we always consider any lessons we can learn about our own processes and practice."