Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Tuesday 21 April 2026 by Jill Powell

A nursery practitioner has been jailed for the gross negligence manslaughter of a 14-month-old toddler who died after being suffocated while staff tried to make him fall asleep.

Toddler Noah Sibanda died at Fairytales Day Nursery on 9 December 2022 having been physically restrained face down on a cushion, with a blanket over his face and a leg placed over him.

Nursery practitioner Kimberley Cookson, 23, was today jailed for three years and four months at Wolverhampton Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. This related to her conduct in making Noah sleep. 

Fairytales Day Nursery Limited was fined £240,000 after it previously admitted one count of corporate manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offence. It was also ordered to pay £56,000 in costs. 

Director and business owner Debbie Latewood, 55, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. She previously admitted a Health and Safety at Work Act offence on the basis that she did not know children were being put down to sleep in this dangerous way, though should have known. She was also disqualified from being a director for seven years. 

The incident was captured on CCTV at the nursey, and showed Noah was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, had a blanket placed over his head, and was laid face down to sleep by Cookson.

She held him in place face down on a soft cushion and restrained him with her leg for some of that time, in what appeared to be an effort to make him sleep when he did not want to. After a considerable duration, it was noticed that he was not breathing, and the emergency services were called. Noah was pronounced dead at hospital.

Alex Johnson, Senior Specialist Prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: 

“This case has been deeply distressing and represents every parent’s worst nightmare whenever they leave their young child at a nursery. Noah Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his wellbeing. He lost his life as a result of reckless and dangerous sleeping practices which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm.

“The evidence in this case, including CCTV footage and expert medical findings, showed that Noah was placed to sleep in a way that severely restricted his ability to breathe and move. The prosecution case was that these practices created a suffocating environment, from which a 14-month-old child, was clearly unable to escape.

“Fairytales Day Nursery Limited has now accepted criminal responsibility for the systemic failures that led to this tragedy, and Deborah Latewood has also acknowledged that the failings occurred under her management and oversight. Kimberley Cookson has also taken responsibility for her harmful actions.

“Nursery providers have a fundamental duty to protect the children in their care. This case underscores the devastating consequences of what happens when that duty is breached. Our thoughts remain with Noah’s family, who have endured an unimaginable loss.” 
 

Source: Independent Commission on Adult Social Care published on this website Tuesday 10 March 2026 by Jill Powell

In a speech on the 5 March at the Nuffield Trust Summit, Baroness Casey said social care has never had its own “creation moment” and called for a national reckoning equivalent to Beveridge’s reforms in 1948.  

In her speech, Baroness Casey set out how there is currently a reliance on cobbled together underfunded services relying on low-paid care workers, a lack of ownership and accountability, and a deep divide between health and social care which leaves families to navigate alone.  

In her remarks at the Nuffield Trust Summit, Baroness Casey of Blackstock said:  

“Unlike the NHS or indeed the benefits system, social care has never had its own creation moment. No moment when the nation decided what it was for, what people should expect or who should pay, and how. 

“Instead, we inherited a system shaped for a very different age, held together  with add-ons and work arounds, sticking plasters and glue. Without ever having the moment of reckoning we now need.”  

She stated that a national conversation would be needed to seek backing from the public who pay for health and social care through their taxes, but might not even know what social care is.

Baroness Casey also confirmed she has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care asking the Government to take six immediate actions on dementia, motor neurone disease and adult safeguarding due to the urgency of the reform needed in these areas.

This includes asking the Government to scale up dementia trials, appoint a new Dementia Tsar, set up a new National Safeguarding Board to protect vulnerable adults, and to introduce a new fast-track, social care passport for people diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

For more detail:

• The full speech was streamed by the Nuffield Trust here: Nuffield Trust Summit 2026

• The speech is available to watch on the Nuffield Trust’s YouTube account: Click here to view.

• The prepared text of the speech has been published on The Independent Commissions website: Click here to view.

• Baroness Casey’s letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with her immediate asks of the Government can be found here: Click here to view.

Source: Department for Education published on this website Monday 20 April 2026 by Jill Powell

Vulnerable young people leaving the care system will be better supported following a review launched by the government today into the deaths of care leavers.

This is in response to the horrifying fact that a disproportionate number of young people who have been in care die young, often in complex circumstances and without support from social workers and others. The government is determined to change this as part of wider efforts to improve the lives of young people, breaking down barriers to opportunity and enabling them to succeed.

Data published in May 2025 showed 91 notifications of care leaver deaths in 2024–25, with the majority aged between 16 and 21. This number is unacceptably high and a serious problem which impacts wider society.

The review into some of these cases will be led by experienced social worker Clare Chamberlain and care-experienced author and broadcaster Ashley John-Baptiste.

Together, they bring a wealth of experience and expertise about the huge challenges which young people face both in and out of the care system. 

The review will focus on young people’s experiences, who and what mattered to them, and identify what more could have been done to support them.

It forms part of wider action to strengthen support for care leavers, including through the landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to enable them to thrive in adult life..

The Bill will introduce new duties on local authorities to provide “Staying Close” support up to age 25, helping care leavers find places to live, get jobs and access vital services including for health, education, training and relationships advice. 

The Bill will also introduce new corporate parenting responsibilities for public sector bodies to ensure they take support care leavers and take their needs into account when designing policies and delivering services.

Minister for Children and Families, Josh MacAlister, said:

“Far too many young people who have been in care face massive challenges in adult life. The fact that many have died far too early is truly shocking and must change.

“This review will help us understand what is going wrong and, crucially, what more we can do to protect and support young people as they leave care. We owe it to every child in our care system to ensure they have the network of loving relationships they need to thrive.

“The independent experts will begin their work immediately, with findings and recommendations to be shared later this year. Lessons will be embedded into the government’s forthcoming Enduring Relationships Programme, which will put the need to support enduring relationships for children in care at the heart of government policy.”

Ashley John-Baptiste said:

“As someone who grew up in care, it troubles me deeply that so many care experienced people have died so early. I can’t overstate how important this work is. I hope our efforts will provide the critical insights and learning needed - so that we can do better for our precious care experienced young people.”

Clare Chamberlain said:

“In undertaking this work we hope to hear not just from professionals, but from family and friends who were close to the young person, so that we can get a good understanding of what mattered most in their lives and what could have been different.”

The Department for Education has already taken steps to improve understanding of care leaver mortality. Since December 2023, local authorities have been expected to report the deaths of care leavers through the Serious Incident Notification system.

The next annual data release is expected in Spring 2026, with further work underway to improve the quality and consistency of reporting.

Alongside these reviews, the government is strengthening mental health support for children in care. A three-year pilot announced in December 2025 will bring together social workers and NHS professionals to provide earlier, more joined-up mental health support to children and families.

Source: Home Office published on this website Thursday 26 February 2026 by Jill Powell

Victims and survivors of ‘honour’- based abuse will be kept safer through a new legal definition and guidance to help improve how frontline professionals support victims and pursue perpetrators.

Recent statistics show that nearly 3,000 ‘honour’- based abuse related offences were recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025. However, due to the hidden nature of ‘honour’- based abuse, this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, as it is believed many of these harrowing incidents and crimes go unreported.

A legal definition of ‘honour’- based abuse has been brought into the government’s flagship Crime and Policing Bill. Alongside a power to issue crucial statutory guidance for authorities, the new legal definition will help the police, social workers and other public authorities better support victims, and set clear expectations for professionals with safeguarding responsibilities in the handling of these cases.

It will also help stop vital information, which could hold perpetrators to account in a criminal trial, from falling through the cracks.

The move is supported by over 60 charities, including Karma Nirvana, which has campaigned for these reforms since the tragic murder of Fawziyah Javed in 2021.

Fawziyah, from Leeds and pregnant at the time, was brutally killed when her husband pushed her from Arthur’s Seat, in a case that showcased how harmful ideas of perceived ‘dishonour’ can lead to tragedy.

Fawziyah experienced domestic abuse which was compounded by ‘honour’- based abuse in the lead-up to her death, highlighting the need to improve the way that statutory systems recognise this form of abuse.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said:

There is no honour in ‘honour’-based abuse.

For too long, these devastating crimes have often been misunderstood and victims badly let down.

Now we are tackling these crimes head on and bringing them out of the shadows. Introducing a new definition and important guidance into law will ensure professionals will work together to ensure more victims are protected and more perpetrators face justice.

‘Honour’-based abuse can include ‘honour’- motivated killings, female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced marriage, all which are crimes that often take place in deep secrecy.

The definition, alongside a power to issue statutory guidance, has been introduced via an amendment at Report stage of the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords, making both measures law across England and Wales.

The bill aims to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system and drive forward the government’s highly ambitious missions to halve both knife crime and violence against women and girls within the next decade.

In addition, the Home Office is exploring the feasibility of a prevalence study for forced marriage and FGM, first announced in August, to better understand how widespread these crimes are, alongside a community engagement campaign encouraging victims to come forward.

These initiatives will help uncover the true scale of the abuse, ensure more victims receive the support they deserve, and bring the most dangerous offenders to justice.

The measures follow the publication of the VAWG Strategy in December, which unveils how every lever of the state is to be used to protect women and girls and halve VAWG crimes in a decade.