Nursery worker jailed over death of toddler suffocated in sleeping bag

A nursery worker has been jailed over the death of a toddler who was suffocated as staff tried to make him fall asleep.

Kimberley Cookson was jailed for three years and four months for the gross negligence manslaughter of Noah Sibanda.

Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley was fined £240,000 as well as £56,000 in costs at a sentencing hearing on Friday.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Cookson, 23, from Dudley, was captured on CCTV tightly wrapping the 14‑month‑old in a sleeping bag, placing a blanket over his head, and laying him face down to sleep in an indoor tepee on 9 December 2022.

At one point, Cookson used her leg to restrain him, in what the prosecution said appeared to be an effort to "make him sleep when he did not want to", and he was left unchecked for two hours.

After a "considerable duration", it was noticed he was not breathing, and the emergency services were called.

He was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later despite attempts to revive him.

Cookson admitted gross negligence manslaughter last month.

Director and business owner Deborah Latewood, 55, also from Dudley, was fined £240,000 after also pleading guilty to a health and safety offence, accepting she should have known children were being put down to sleep in a dangerous way.

She was spared jail due to a recent change in sentencing laws, as she was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

The private nursery, which is no longer in operation, admitted to systemic failures including inadequate training, supervision and unsafe sleeping procedures.

The company previously pleaded guilty to a corporate manslaughter charge and a health and safety offence.

Passing sentence on Friday, High Court Judge Mr Justice Choudhury said: "Tragically, the events of that day meant that Mr and Mrs Sibanda would never see Noah alive again.

"The court has been shown CCTV footage of the baby room. The images on that footage can only be described as shocking.

"There were repeated instances of rough handling of babies by several of the nursery practitioners, including Miss Cookson, often in view of a manager."

The judge said babies had been repeatedly tightly swaddled and then covered in blankets or cloth in what was an "established" practice.

"Not once did any practitioner challenge another about this practice. These dangerous and unacceptable practices, which went unchecked at his nursery, reached their inevitable conclusion on the 9th of December 2022."

The judge told Cookson: "In my judgment Noah's suffering may not have been obvious to you but it ought to have been.

"This is not a case where you knowingly set out to suffocate or asphyxiate.

"You are clearly remorseful. You have attempted to understand that Noah's parents are the real sufferers here. You have not sought to blame others."

Ofsted, which ordered the nursery to close shortly after the incident, said in a statement: "Our thoughts remain with Noah's family and we are deeply sorry for their loss.

"No child should ever come to harm in a place that is meant to keep them safe.

"The government has recently announced new funding to allow us to inspect nurseries more frequently and we continually review our work, alongside our partners, to help make nurseries as safe as they can be for children."

(c) Sky News 2026: Nursery worker jailed over death of toddler suffocated in sleeping bag