Toddler suffocated at nursery after being left strapped face down for two hours

The mother of a 14-month-old boy who died when he was wrapped in a sleeping bag and restrained face down at nursery says she can’t forgive herself for ‘handing him over to the people who killed him’.

Noah Sibanda was left unchecked by staff for more than two hours at the now closed Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley, West Midlands, by Kimberley Cookson in a bid to force him to go to sleep.

Cookson, then 20 and now aged 23, has pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter and is being sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

She sobbed in the dock as CCTV was played showing her tightly wrapping Noah in a sleeping bag before placing a blanket over the toddler’s head and putting her left leg on him to stop him moving.

Noah was declared dead in hospital around an hour after being found unresponsive on the afternoon of December 9, 2022.

John Elvidge KC, prosecuting, told the court that covering children’s heads to get them to sleep was a habitual practice in the baby room at the nursery.

He said of comments made in interview by Cookson: ‘She thought it was fine to cover faces.’

In her victim impact statement, Noah’s mum Masi said staff at the nursery ‘were playing Russian roulette with our children’s lives’.

She said his birth was ‘a prayer answered’ and spoke of how he had brought a calmness to her life.

Describing how she had left Noah in the care of staff she thought would look after him, she said: ‘I handed Noah over to the people who killed him.

‘Because of this I cannot forgive myself and consequently will never forgive the defendants.’

She added of the nursery: ‘Behind closed doors they were playing Russian roulette with our children’s lives.

‘Last time I saw and held my child was in hospital, shortly after I was told nothing more could be done.

‘He wouldn’t open his eyes when I whispered to him that it was time to go home.’

In a separate statement, Noah’s father Thulani said: ‘My son died at just 14-months-old because of the gross negligence of someone who was trusted to care for him.

‘When a child is taken from this world the loss is immeasurable. Noah’s absence is felt in every corner of our lives.

‘Noah deserved to live. He deserved to be protected and we deserved to watch him grow up.’

Exceptionally dangerous sleeping routines for infants at the nursery posed risks of overheating and exhaustion, the court heard.

Mr Elvidge added: ‘Kimberley Cookson’s negligence was gross. That means it was truly exceptionally bad.’

Nursery owner Deborah Latewood, aged 55, is also facing sentence.

Latewood, of Dudley, has admitted a Health and Safety at Work Act offense on the basis that she did not know children were being put down to sleep in a dangerous way, but should have known.

Both Cookson, also of Dudley, and Latewood became visibly upset in the glass-fronted dock as Mr Elvidge addressed the court, and as excerpts of the CCTV in the case were played to sentencing judge Mr Justice Choudhury.

The hearing continues.

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