Summary

  • Warning: This page contains distressing content

  • Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison over the death of a 14-month-old boy in her care

  • Noah Sibanda died in December 2022 after being restrained while being put down to sleep at the now-closed Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley

  • Fairytales Day Nursery is fined £240,000 over Noah's death, while owner Deborah Latewood is given a suspended sentence

  • Judge Justice Choudhury says the CCTV of the baby room shown in court was "shocking"

  • He addresses Noah's family, saying their loss is unimaginable and "no punishment could ever seem enough for what has happened"

Live Reporting

Edited by Allen Cook, with reporting from Phil Mackie at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Warning: this page contains distressing details

  1. Sentencing hearing now under way

    Proceedings have now started in the court where the nursery is being sentenced for the manslaughter of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda.

    Deborah Latewood - the owner of Fairytales Day Nursery - and nursery worker Kimberley Cookson have been brought into the dock.

    The company pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter with owner Latewood, 55, also admitting she should have known children were being put to sleep in a dangerous position.

    Cookson, 23, tried to make Noah sleep by placing him face down on a cushion and restraining him with her leg.

    Judge Justice Choudhury has also now entered the court.

  2. The charges in full

    The full charges admitted by the defendants at a previous hearing were:

    • Kimberley Cookson - gross negligence manslaughter
    • Fairytales Day Nursery Limited - corporate manslaughter and failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
    • Deborah Latewood - failing to comply with general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

  3. What do we know about Noah Sibanda?

    A young child with dark hair wearing a white T-shirt with coloured spots on it is smiling. He is holding a card which reads: "TODAY I AM 11," although the bottom of the card is cut off.Family

    Noah Sibanda was 14 months old when he died, and had been attending Fairytales Day Nursery on 9 December 2022.

    In a smiling photo, released by his family, he was 11 months old.

    On the day he died, he was "tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag with a blanket over his head and laid face down to sleep" by Kimberley Cookson, the CPS said.

  4. What has happened so far in the case?

    A red brick building surrounded by black metal railings. A sign on the front of the building reads Fairytales Day Nursery. Other signs advertise the services offered by the business.Google

    Fairytales Day Nursery was shut down shortly after Noah's death in December 2022

    • Noah Sibanda died aged 14 month olds after being restrained while being put down to sleep at the now-closed Fairytales Day Nursery, on Bourne Street, Dudley, in December 2022
    • The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said CCTV showed Noah tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag with a blanket over his head and laid face down to sleep by a nursery worker, Kimberley Cookson
    • Noah was pronounced dead in hospital after emergency services were called
    • In June, Kimberley Cookson admitted gross negligence manslaughter - she placed Noah face-down on a soft cushion, restraining him with her leg
    • Then in March, ahead of an expected trial this month, the company pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
    • At the same court date, owner Deborah Latewood admitted to failing to comply with general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

  5. Nursery and nursery worker to be sentenced over death of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda

    We are bringing you coverage today from the sentencing hearing of a Dudley nursery worker who admitted gross negligence manslaughter after the death of a 14-month-old child.

    The nursery will also be sentenced for corporate manslaughter and its manager for health and safety offences at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

    We will bring you the latest as it happens.