14-Month-Old Dies After Nursery Worker Allegedly Used Leg to Force Him Face-Down — Facility Admits Manslaughter

A nursery has been charged with corporate manslaughter three years after a 14-month-old toddler died in its care. The incident occurred in 2022, when a 14-month-old toddler was physically restrained face down on a cushion, resulting in his death.

Noah Sibanda lost his life in 2022 after being “physically restrained, faced down on a cushion, with a blanket over his face and a leg placed over him,” at Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley, England, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

It has been more than three years since the incident, and the nursery on March 25 finally admitted to corporate manslaughter.

The nursery on March 25 admitted to one count of corporate manslaughter, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The owner of the nursery, Debbie Latewood, 55, admitted to a health and safety at work offense. Latewood said she should have known, but did not know that the children were being put to sleep in a dangerous manner at the nursery.

Previously, the Crown Prosecution Service said that Kimberley Cookson, 23, pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter.

“The incident was captured on CCTV at the nursery, showing Sibanda being tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, with a blanket placed over his head, and his head being pushed down to sleep by Cookson,” the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Cookson, “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,” the Crown Protection Service said.

After a period of time, staff realized Sibanda was not breathing. Paramedics was called, and he was taken to Russell's Hall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Earlier in March, Sibanda’s mother paid tribute to her late son while celebrating her daughter’s second birthday. She shared the tribute in the Dudley News. Masi Sibanda welcomed their daughter ten days after Sibanda’s funeral.

She said, “My daughter turned two, but Sibanda never got to turn two. I think they would have been such a fun little duo together. I know parents are biased, but he was so beautiful. He was calm and very relaxed and quite chilled and unfazed by things.”

"Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his well-being,” prosecutor Alex Jonson said in a statement.

“He lost his life as a result of a reckless and dangerous sleeping practice which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm,” he said.

The defendants are set to be sentenced in April. Cookson and Latewood entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing.