Toddler tragically died after nursery restrained him with blanket face down | UK | News

A nursery, its manager and a staff member will be sentenced after a 14-month-old boy suffocated to death while staff were trying to put him to sleep.

Noah Sibanda died after the incident at Fairytales Day Nursery in Bourne Street, Dudley, West Midlands, by being physically restrained face down on a pillow with a blanket and covering his face with a blanket and resting one leg on it, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) previously said.

Kindergarten practitioner Kimberley Cookson, 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence in relation to her actions while trying to put the toddler to sleep on December 9, 2022.

Last month, Fairytales Day Nursery Limited pleaded guilty to a case of corporate manslaughter and an Occupational Health and Safety Act offense at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Manager and owner Deborah Latewood, 55, also pleaded guilty to an Occupational Health and Safety Act offense, claiming she did not know – but should have known – that children were being put to sleep in a dangerous manner.

CPS said the incident, captured on CCTV in the nursery, saw Noah wrapped tightly in a sleeping bag, his head covered with a blanket and laid face down next to Cookson.

The entire time, CPS said, he held the toddler face down on a mat and restrained him with his leg. This appears to be an effort to “put him to sleep when he doesn’t want to”.

It was later discovered that Noah was not breathing and 999 was called, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Cookson, Latewood and the now-closed nursery will be sentenced by Mr Justice Choudhury at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday.