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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Pre-School Worker Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter of 14-Month-Old Boy at Daycare: Reports
14-month-old toddler Noah Sibanda died "following an incident" at Fairytales Day Nursery in the West Midlands, U.K. on Dec. 9, 2022 Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday, June 10, according to reports Nursery director Deborah Latewood, 54, and Fairytales Day Nursery also face charges in connection with the toddler's deathA nursery practitioner has admitted to the manslaughter of a toddler in England. Kimberley Cookson, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of gross negligence manslaughter in court on Tuesday, June 10, in connection with the death of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda at Fairytales Day Nursery in the West Midlands' town of Dudley, U.K. outlets ITV News and Hereford Times reported. Sibanda died 'following an incident' at the nursery on Dec. 9, 2022, Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Division, stated in a press release 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," said McHaffie. Deborah Latewood, 54, the director and owner of Fairytales Day Nursery, was charged with failing to comply with general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, according to the release. She pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday, ITV News reported. Fairytales Nursery Limited, which is no longer in operation, was charged with one count of corporate manslaughter and failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The firm entered a plea of not guilty to the charge, per the Hereford Times. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. According to the outlet, the company was alleged to have '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.' Following the tragic death of Sibanda, Fairytales Nursery Limited had its registration suspended by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) after the department 'believed children may be at risk of harm,' per ITV News. The outlet reported that Judge Michael Chambers KC said the company and Latewood would likely face a trial in 2026, though he did not confirm a date. Cookson and Latewood were reportedly released on unconditional bail until the next hearing, which is said to be set for Dec. 5. Judge Chambers said, per ITV News, 'In your case, Kimberley Cookson, you have had the courage to plead guilty and will get the appropriate credit for that plea. I am adjourning your sentencing until the conclusion of the trial, so the judge will have all the facts of the case.' PEOPLE reached out to the CPS for comment, but they did not immediately respond. Read the original article on People
BBC News
23-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Didcot Power Station probe reaching 'latter stages', police say
The investigation into the deaths of four men following the collapse at Didcot Power Station is moving "towards the latter stages", police have 23 February 2016 part of the old boiler house at the Didcot A plant collapsed, killing Ken Cresswell, John Shaw, Michael Collings and Christopher News editor Mark Anthony said it was "a national disgrace" that nine years on their families were still waiting for Valley Police said its joined investigation with the Health and Safety Executive "continues to make meaningful progress". The force said it was "actively investigating" offences of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and Health and Safety at Work Act offences. It took more than six months for the men's bodies to be recovered and family members of the victims previously said they were finding waiting for the investigation to conclude "really hard".Last year, Mr Anthony started a petition calling for a pubic enquiry into the time it has taken."Unfortunately, it is not without precedent," he said, comparing it to the investigations into Hillsborough and Grenfell. "There's been no pressure from The Home Office or the Home Secretary to make the police at Thames Valley... get everything resolved any quicker." "To date, the investigation team has collated and analysed over 6,500 exhibits, 90,000 images, and 230,000 digital media artefacts," Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said."Over 180 hours of video recorded witness and suspect interviews have been conducted, in addition to the 2,812 statements taken."He said while "a specific timeframe" for its conclusion could not be specified, they were "confident that we are moving towards the latter stages" of enquiries."Our officers continue to provide regular updates to the families on the investigation progress, as well as to the Crown Prosecution Service." Mr Anthony said: "The entire demolition world is looking to the UK, Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive for some answers, so that they can send in men and women to work safely."And nine years later, we still can't do that."Olly Glover, the newly elected MP for Didcot and Wantage, said he was "putting pressure" on the police to make progress."But also the investigation does need to be allowed to conclude in a way that gets all of the evidence to the surface," he owner RWE Power said "Our thoughts remain with the families of the four men who died in this tragic incident. "We continue to cooperate fully with Thames Valley Police."The Home Office said it would not comment while the investigation was ongoing. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
