Nursery Admits Corporate Manslaughter After Toddler Dies in Its Care

A Case That Should Never Have Happened

A Dudley nursery has admitted corporate manslaughter following the death of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda, who died on 9 December 2022 after being restrained and placed face down to sleep in dangerous conditions. It is a case that lays bare catastrophic failures in the duty of care owed to the most vulnerable.

Fairytales Day Nursery Limited entered its guilty plea at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 25 March 2026, on a date originally set for trial. The nursery's owner and director, Deborah Latewood, 55, also admitted an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Sentencing for all parties is scheduled for 16 April 2026.

What Happened to Noah

The facts of this case are deeply distressing. Noah was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, had a blanket placed over his head, and was laid face down on a soft cushion. Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson, now 23, restrained the toddler with her leg while attempting to make him sleep. CCTV evidence captured the incident.

Noah was subsequently taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, where he died.

Cookson had previously pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter in June 2025. Latewood admitted her offence on the basis that she did not know, but should have known, that children were being put down to sleep in such a dangerous manner.

A Rare Corporate Manslaughter Charge

Corporate manslaughter prosecutions against nurseries are exceptionally rare in the UK, which underlines just how severe the failings were in this case. The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges in April 2025, with Senior Specialist Prosecutor Alex Johnson leading the case.

West Midlands Police investigated the death in collaboration with the CPS, Ofsted, and other agencies. Four additional people were arrested during the course of the investigation but face no further action.

Nursery Shut Down by Ofsted

Ofsted permanently withdrew the nursery's right to operate in April 2023, several months after Noah's death. The Bourne Street premises have not operated as a childcare setting since.

Charges were first heard at magistrates' court on 13 May 2025 before proceeding to the Crown Court. Both Latewood and Cookson have been granted bail until sentencing next month.

A Family Left Devastated

Noah's mother, Masi Sibanda, paid tribute to her son, saying: "Noah was a beautiful, happy and easy-going little boy and we miss him very much."

Those words carry a weight that no legal outcome can truly address. A family trusted a registered nursery to keep their child safe, and that trust was broken in the most appalling way imaginable.

What Happens Next

All eyes now turn to the sentencing hearing on 16 April 2026 at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Given the rarity of a corporate manslaughter conviction in the childcare sector, the sentences handed down could set an important precedent for how seriously such failures are treated in future.

Whatever the outcome, nothing changes the central, unbearable fact of this case: a 14-month-old boy went to nursery one December morning and never came home.

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