Parents To Sue Nursery After Baby’s Death

The parents of a 16-month-old girl who choked to death announced plans to sue the owners of her nursery yesterday after an inquest found the child was the victim there of “unlawful killing by gross negligence manslaughter”.

While the police, the crown prosecution service and Ofsted have declined to pursue the former staff or owners of Tiddlywinks Nursery, in Gloucester, the parents of Molly Cunliffe said they would initiate civil action on the basis that the accident occurred at the nursery because of serious neglect and mismanagement.

The inquest verdict means the jury considered the negligence involved to be so serious it amounted to homicide.

After yesterday’s verdict Gloucestershire police said that they would again consider the possibility of bringing criminal charges.

The inquest heard how in October 2005 Molly entangled herself with the cord of a drawstring bag that had been attached to her cot in contravention of good practice and the manufacturers’ instructions. It was known that Molly, “a happy, mischievous, inquisitive” child, liked to wrap things around her neck.

Staff tried and failed to revive her at the nursery. She was taken to Bristol children’s hospital but never recovered. After a fortnight her parents agreed her life support machine should be switched off.

The inquest was told of deficiencies in the staffing at Tiddlywinks. The toddler was left in the care of a 17-year-old student and an unqualified staff member while managers were upstairs at a meeting. The child was placed in the cot and left unmonitored for at least 20 minutes. The nursery’s guidelines dictate that checks should be made every 10 minutes.

After the verdict Molly’s parents Keata Glenton, 27, and Matthew Cunliffe, 26, said: “Every human right of our beautiful daughter was taken away by incompetent staff who failed to see the dangers of having a drawstring bag near an inquisitive 16-month-old toddler…justice has been done and we hope a clear message will be sent out to other carers so this catalogue of errors will never happen again.”

The couple added that they wanted to thank Molly “for giving us 16 precious months”.

In his summing up the Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore detailed the errors at Tiddlywinks. “The owner of the nursery delegated her safety responsibilities to others. Training and risk assessment were not particularly focused. There was no risk assessment at all relating to the blanket bag being tied to the cot,” he said.

Independent witnesses thought the risks were obvious, he said. “The nursery’s own 10-minute check policy was ignored. No one involved in the nursery seems to have foreseen the danger.”

The jury foreman said: “We find the risk of Molly being strangled had not been recognised and no precautions were taken.”

The nursery, one of three under the same banner, was then owned by Rosemary Meadows. The Worcester Street branch, where the death occurred, closed and never reopened. The rest of the business has new owners. Paul Griffin, representing the former owner, said: “Her heartfelt sympathy goes out to Molly’s parents.”

Hannah Tyndall, then operations manager at Tiddlywinks, sobbed as she told the inquest there was “bad practice” at the nursery that day.