Photo: West Midlands Police
A preschool worker has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of a toddler in England.
On Tuesday (June 10), 22-year-old Kimberley Cookson pleaded guilty to one count of gross negligence manslaughter following the 2022 death of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda at Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley, per PEOPLE.
Sibanda died "following an incident" that unfolded at the nursery on December 9, 2022, Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Division, said in a statement in April.
“Following a review of the evidence provided by West Midlands Police, we have authorised criminal charges in relation to the death of a 14-month-old child at a nursery in Dudley," McHaffie said.
Director and owner of Fairytales Day Nursery, Deborah Latewood, was charged with failing to comply with general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. She pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Fairytales Nursery Limited, which is no longer operating, also pleaded not guilty to charges of corporate manslaughter and failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company is being accused of “failure to ensure that children in the baby room were put down to sleep in a safe way, failure to ensure that staff were adequately trained to put babies down to sleep, and failure to ensure staff were adequately supervised while doing so.”
Latewood and the company are set to face trial in 2026.
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