Toddler Di*d After Worker Used Her Leg to Make Him Sleep Face Down, as Nursery Admits Corporate Manslaughter
Noah Sibanda died in 2022 after being suffocated
A childcare facility in England has admitted to corporate manslaughter following the death of a 14-month-old child. The case centers on actions taken by a staff member that led to the tragic outcome, according to court proceedings.
Noah Sibanda died in December 2022, having been “physically restrained face down on a cushion, with a blanket over his face and a leg placed over him” at Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley, England, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
More than three years later, the nursery admitted to one count of corporate manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offense on Wednesday, March 25, per the CPS.
The nursery’s owner, Debbie Latewood, 55, also admitted to a Health and Safety at Work Act offense and that she should have but didn’t know children were being put to sleep in a dangerous way.
Previously, the CPS said, practitioner Kimberley Cookson, 23, pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter, according to prosecutors.
“The incident was captured on CCTV at the nursery, and showed Noah was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, had a blanket placed over his head, and was laid face down to sleep by Cookson,” CPS said. “She held him in place face down on a soft cushion and restrained him with her leg for some of that time, in what appeared to be an effort to make him sleep when he did not want to.”
Noah was taken to the hospital after it was noticed he wasn’t breathing and he was later pronounced dead.
“Noah Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his wellbeing,” prosecutor Alex Johnson said in a statement. “He lost his life as a result of reckless and dangerous sleeping practices which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm.”
The defendants are set to be sentenced in April.
