Court date set for trial over death of toddler
FamilyA court date has been set for a nursery and its owner to stand trial in connection with the death of a 14-month-old boy.
Noah Sibanda died after an incident at the now-closed Fairytales Day Nursery, on Bourne Street, Dudley, on 9 December 2022.
Nursery owner Deborah Latewood, 54, has denied failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure that Noah and others were not exposed to risk between 29 November and 9 December 2022.
A plea of not guilty was also entered on behalf of the company which ran the nursery to one count of corporate manslaughter. A trial will be held at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 16 April.
The manslaughter charge incoporates an alleged failure to ensure children in the baby room were put down to sleep in a safe way, failure to ensure staff were adequately trained to put babies down to sleep and failure to ensure staff were adequately supervised while doing so.
The company also pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure that Noah and others were not exposed to risk between 29 November and 9 December 2022.
Nursery worker Kimberly Cookson, 23, previously admitted one count of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with Noah's death.
Cookson was told in June last year that she would be sentenced upon conclusion of Latewood and the nursery's trial.
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