Two nursery staff in court over toddler death

Two people have appeared before magistrates charged in connection with the death of a 14-month-old boy.

Noah Sibanda died following an incident at the now-closed Fairytales Day Nursery on Bourne Street, Dudley, on 9 December 2022.

Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson, 22, is charged with gross negligence manslaughter, while the owner Deborah Latewood, 54, is charged with failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The women, both from Dudley, appeared at the town's magistrates' court on Tuesday, where they were bailed to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court next month.

Ms Latewood's company, Fairytales Nursery Ltd, has also been charged with corporate manslaughter, as well as failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure that Noah and others were not exposed to risk between 29 November and 9 December 2022.

The corporate manslaughter charge alleges that the nursery failed to "ensure that children in the baby room would be put down to sleep in a safe way", and also did not ensure staff doing so were adequately trained and supervised.

It also alleges that the "breach of duty fell far below what could have been reasonably be expected in the circumstances" and "was a substantial cause of the death of Noah".

The court heard formal pleas could not be entered to either manslaughter or corporate manslaughter at the magistrates' court, with the offences only triable on a crown court indictment.

Latewood made no indication of plea on behalf of herself of the company.

Magistrates granted unconditional bail to the defendants and ordered them to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 10 June.

The nursery was closed by Ofsted five days after Noah died, after the watchdog said that "children may be at risk of harm".

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