Corporate failures and inadequate safety protocols at a now-defunct private nursery contributed to the death of a 14-month-old boy who was suffocated by a worker attempting to force him to sleep, a court has heard.
Wolverhampton Crown Court imposed a three-year, four-month custodial sentence on Kimberley Cookson, 23, following her admission of gross negligence manslaughter in the death of Noah Sibanda at Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley on 9 December 2022.
The facility’s director and proprietor, Deborah Latewood, 55, received a £240,000 fine after acknowledging she should have recognised staff were employing hazardous methods to settle children—a corporate failing prosecutors described as representing “every parent’s worst nightmare.”
CCTV surveillance captured the fatal incident as Cookson tightly secured Noah within a sleeping bag before positioning him face down on a cushion. Footage showed her covering the toddler’s head with a blanket whilst using her leg to physically restrain him—actions prosecutors characterised as efforts to “make him sleep when he did not want to.”
The child ceased breathing and was subsequently declared deceased at hospital despite emergency intervention.
Thursday’s sentencing follows the nursery’s guilty pleas to corporate manslaughter and health and safety violations, with the facility acknowledging systemic deficiencies spanning staff training, supervisory oversight and sleep safety procedures. The business has since ceased operations.
Latewood’s substantial financial penalty reflects her acceptance that she bore responsibility for recognising the dangerous practices being employed within her establishment, yet failed to intervene or implement corrective measures.
Prosecutor Alex Johnson, speaking after March court proceedings, emphasised the profound distress the case generated. “Noah Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his wellbeing,” he stated, adding the child “lost his life as a result of reckless and dangerous sleeping practices which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm.”
Lead prosecutor John Elvidge KC detailed how surveillance recordings documented Cookson’s actions throughout the incident, providing investigators with clear evidence of the restraint methods employed against the toddler.
Both Cookson and Latewood, residents of Dudley, entered their guilty pleas last month, sparing Noah’s family the ordeal of a contested trial whilst accepting criminal responsibility for their respective roles in the tragedy.
The case has prompted renewed scrutiny of childcare facility oversight and the adequacy of regulatory frameworks designed to prevent similar fatalities through enforcement of safe sleeping standards for infants and toddlers in professional care settings.
