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General Mar 25, 2026 at 1:14 PM

Dudley nursery admits responsibility for toddler's death

Posted by Its_pipo

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98kljd25kwo
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Th1rte3n1334 Mar 25, 2026 +733
> Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson, 23, had already admitted gross negligence manslaughter in the case. She tried to make Noah sleep by placing him face-down on a soft cushion, restraining him with her leg. What in the honest f*** would make a person think that this is even an okay thing to do to a toddler? Seriously, I don’t have kids, never will, but even when I was young I knew not to place kids face down and I certainly would never try to pin them down with my leg.
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Haunteddoll28 Mar 25, 2026 +38
A couple years ago I was laying half-ish on my bed, face down, trying to grab something that had fallen behind some furniture next to it when my dog (90 lbs at the time) climbed onto my back and started getting comfy. Even with my face completely free I couldn’t breathe from the weight on my back and started to panic. I cannot imagine what that poor child was going through if my situation as an adult was scary enough. My mom also used to work in a preschool and I cannot fathom how someone who works in childcare and has gone through all the necessary training would even think that was even remotely an ok thing to do. Like how does their brain even get to that point instead of literally *anything* else?
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Saradoesntsleep Mar 25, 2026 +250
Jesus f***, this was murder.
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lu5ty Mar 25, 2026 +75
Homicide by gross negligence - manslaughter
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JayTheWolfDragon Mar 25, 2026 +51
Consider: this woman has possibly worked in childcare for years. Even if she was there only a day, common sense says that you don’t push a child’s face into a mattress and restrain them so severely that your leg is “necessary” for the restraint. She knew what she was doing. I bet it was a “momentary lapse of judgement”, as she said the poor kid wouldn’t take a nap. That offended her so badly she killed him. Edit: Incorrect punctuation
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merlinsmushrooms Mar 26, 2026 +4
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with "malice aforethought" (intent or extreme recklessness). Nah I think homie has a point.
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gmishaolem Mar 25, 2026 -22
Negligence is still a choice. You don't get to say "sure, I did this thing that has a high chance of causing death, but I didn't *want* to cause death". As far as I'm concerned, the word "negligence" should not ever be used in a legal context, and it should only ever be about the actions taken or not taken. For that matter, stop using the word "attempted", too, because you should not get a lighter sentence because you suck at being evil.
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lu5ty Mar 25, 2026 +19
Good thing you have no power over anyone. You don't get to punish people for things they haven't done.
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TripleSingleHOF Mar 25, 2026 +44
I don't believe in hell, but when I read stories like this, sometimes I wish I did.
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kennedar_1984 Mar 25, 2026 +27
There is a way of “swaddling” them safely at this age but it wasn’t what the daycare worker did. My son needed to feel tightly tucked in to fall asleep at that age but was too young for weighted blankets (which is what we use now). We would wrap him in a blanket and hold him which generally worked well. He felt swaddled but wasn’t ever in any danger because we were holding him, his airway was clear, and nothing covered his face. I understand that’s not possible in a daycare, where there are many kids and few teachers, but it’s the only way to safely swaddle them once they can move around.
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BlackMambaBride Mar 25, 2026 +13
Swaddling is not recommend at all once a baby can roll… which is typically by 4-6 months.
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kennedar_1984 Mar 25, 2026 +7
Which is why we didn’t use an actual swaddle. He was far too old for a real swaddle but too young for weighted blankets. So we essentially made our own swaddle/weighted blankets by holding him somewhat tightly against us. Not tightly enough that he was in any danger, but enough that he felt pressure on his body which is what he needs to sleep. He’s 11 now and still loves a tight snuggle at bed time to help his body calm down.
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Tower-Junkie Mar 25, 2026 +201
The same thing happened at a daycare in NC last year. It was the kids first day, and she was having trouble going to sleep in a new place, so the daycare worker put her face down on the cot and laid on top of her until she suffocated. She scrolled her phone while the girl’s foot was kicking, then went still. She didn’t check on her for three hours. The DA is only asking for two years. Edit to add: the victim was 16 month old Maddy Mitchell and the murderer is Alexandra Coffey
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FlanneryOG Mar 25, 2026 +78
Jesus, that made me sick to my stomach to read. Monstrous.
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Tower-Junkie Mar 25, 2026 +48
It makes me sick too. It doesn’t even make sense to hold a child down to get them to relax. That makes people fight harder.
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 25, 2026 +32
That's torture-murder, should be the death penalty. And the DA should also be thrown in jail for asking for such a light sentence. Pure evil.
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Tower-Junkie Mar 25, 2026 +29
The public is pretty outraged about it, so hopefully they’ll go for a harsher penalty. I have no idea why they’d only ask for two years.
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 25, 2026 +16
I see this all the time for crimes against kids, no matter how horrific, they always ask for lenient sentences against the perps. Yet so many stories I see they want to give *teens* decades in jail for manslaughter charges/being an accomplice in a robbery..etc. Holding kids to higher standards than adults is absurd. Rube Franke could even be out in as early as *4 years*. The US does not view children as human beings, won't even ratify the UN articles on that. Hopefully the guards at that jail let all the other inmates know what she did and actually make it hard time smh.
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HIM_Darling Mar 26, 2026 +3
You generally see a lot of sympathy from much of the public when parents/caretakers kill kids in any way that could have been accidental/unintentional. They will screech about being overtired and overstressed and "it could happen to anyone" and how people who aren't parents just don't understand. DAs are elected positions, so they may be taking what they think the public wants into consideration and can/will change their tune if they see a majority of the public disagrees with their decision.
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 26, 2026 +3
Yet when actually troubled kids who were abused all their lives and have severe mental health problems as a result of it, commit crimes, then it's "no excuses they knew what they were doing, give em the chair".
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PlsCheckThisBush Mar 26, 2026 +2
[ Removed by Reddit ]
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Tower-Junkie Mar 26, 2026 +2
I feel the same way. The family is asking everyone to remain peaceful and pray, so they’re better than me. I would already be in prison if it was my child.
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joestaff Mar 25, 2026 +574
That's incredibly frustrating. What child care taker isn't aware that you never place them face down on a cushion/mattress? Let alone pinning them down.
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Lington Mar 25, 2026 +370
Toddlers can be placed face down to sleep (not infants), but obviously pinning someone down on a cushion so they can't move to get air is criminal.
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ElectronicMoo Mar 25, 2026 +211
As soon as a baby is able to roll over on their own, around 4 to 6 months, they're okay to be face down. Heck you can't stop it without a pissed off baby and your lack of sleep. You still place them on their back at the start, and you remove everything from the crib - and its a firm mattress, of course. But once they're rolling over, they have the core strength to keep their face clear.
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Krewtan Mar 25, 2026 +85
It freaked my wife and me out when our baby rolled on to her stomach but there was 0 chance of us rolling her.back over at that age. It's hard enough to get them to sleep, rolling them over is just asking to stay up until 4am with the baby rolling back on their stomach again anyway. It was hard to get used to seeing her sleep on her belly but that was her preferred position. 
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azsnaz Mar 25, 2026 +33
The amount of time I spent staring at the baby monitor trying to determine if my son was breathing or not
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Gluske Mar 26, 2026 +6
Volume UPP
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Curious_Department84 Mar 26, 2026 +4
The number of times I shoved my finger under my babies’ noses to make sure they were breathing.
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Omgninjas Mar 26, 2026 +16
I swear babies have a default sleep position of face down butt in the air as soon as they can roll over. 
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ElectronicMoo Mar 25, 2026 +1
[ Removed by Reddit ]
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spleeble Mar 25, 2026 +72
Why is a daycare "restraining" a child at all? That's the much more important part.
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 25, 2026 +41
Impatient assholes who can't conceive of the fact that hyper little kids act like hyper little kids. This is clean cut *murder* and what a horrible way to go. Should be life without parole or the needle.
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SuchMatter1884 Mar 25, 2026 +13
Cookson straight up suffocated the child! From the article: >>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said CCTV showed Noah tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag with a blanket over his head and laid face down to sleep by Cookson
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 25, 2026 +8
That's deliberate murder then, no doubt, can't believe the number of people who think that's an accident. Who the hell sleeps like that?
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mrsc1880 Mar 25, 2026 +25
I worked in child care for a few years. It can be can be *extremely* frustrating to get a bunch of toddlers to nap at the same time, but restraining a child never would have ever crossed my mind. I can't imagine the type of people who would be okay treating someone's baby this way.
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MultiMillionMiler Mar 25, 2026 +10
Yeah you have to be a psycho to think there's 0 issue with putting 150 LB+ of weight on a 20-30 lb toddler while they're *face down* into a bed. Objectively inexcusable stupidity that should get the top murder charge and max penalty available.
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Jiktten Mar 25, 2026 +50
I am not a child carer, I have no experience with child care, I do not have children and I don't want any and yet I STILL KNOW YOU DON'T PUT SOMEONE FACE DOWN AND HOLD THEM THERE. What the Hell is wrong with people, seriously. That poor little boy and his poor poor family.
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VanZandtVS Mar 25, 2026 +115
This was a care worker ignoring basic safety recommendations because she was frustrated, overwhelmed, and overstimulated . . . . but Jesus, mummifying the toddler in a sleeping bag, covering his head with a blanket, then pinning him face down on a cushion is absolutely insane. I *guarantee* the thought process here was something along the lines of, "if I can just get them to lay still for a bit they'll nap."
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tetrajet Mar 25, 2026 +77
Sounds more like sociopathy than "ignoring instructions" tbh
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releaseepsteinfiles1 Mar 25, 2026 +35
A lot of them, more so from the ones who aren’t licensed through the state.
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Adultery Mar 25, 2026 +8
https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/texas-home-daycare-owner-left-kids-tied-to-car-seats/amp/
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polaroid_kidd Mar 25, 2026 +128
Jesus Christ.... Just.. wow. My heart goes out to those parents and everyone involved. No one wanted to kill a child here (at least I hope that). This is just horrific on every side. But how in god's name did she think that THAT method is a good way to get a baby to sleep?
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NoEmu5969 Mar 25, 2026 +177
My wife works in early childhood special education and she wrote a report yesterday for the student who has no cognitive skills after being struck by a frustrated childcare worker. The child was developing perfectly normal and one bad day at preschool took away any chance of a normal life.
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polaroid_kidd Mar 25, 2026 +52
I hate this planet.
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NoEmu5969 Mar 25, 2026 -15
That Sandra Bullock movie doesn’t do it justice
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TotallyTruthy Mar 25, 2026 +76
When my child came home from daycare with a bruise on her forehead and corresponding goose egg that nobody could explain to me, I realized I am 100% that mom. I had to exercise a lot of self-restraint to stop at terse words and blunt but non-vulgar communication. They probably thought I was going too far by talking to other parents, collecting incidents, and reporting them to their licensing board for failure to follow their reporting requirements and failure to maintain adequate supervision practices. I thought I was being incredibly even-keeled by not physically doing to the teacher on duty what happened to my child and seeing how she felt about the seriousness of head injuries after that. I didn't think I'd be the psycho "we ride at dawn" mom, but it took breathing exercises and self-talk not to be. I don't know how there aren't more national news stories about parents snapping in cases like these. I would.
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NoEmu5969 Mar 25, 2026 +38
I put effort into recording maintenance I perform on aircraft because any change in performance or control has to be traceable for liability and prevention purposes. When a daycare scratches their head about why a kid has bruises, that’s a very bad sign.
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TotallyTruthy Mar 25, 2026 +14
Oh, I agree. I'm not saying I wouldn't have cared if they'd had an incident report to show me, but I do understand kids can be clumsy (especially when they're still learning to walk) and wouldn't have freaked out over a minor injury alone. But it was the fact that I had to point it out for them to even notice, so they obviously were not watching her when it happened AT ALL. No toddler is going to fall and get a goose egg without crying, so even if they didn't notice the fall or the bonk they should have at bare minimum heard the crying and been able to work backwards from context clues to assess what happened. That they couldn't even do that made me concerned that kids were being left unsupervised. Then when a random teacher who hadn't been involved in the discussion but had been on duty in her class earlier started getting immediately defensive while offering fully bullshit excuses, that's when I reached my "seeing red" point. I made that young woman cry, then I didn't stop until I saw her escorted off premises with my own eyes with a promise I'd let every parent who walked through the doors know exactly why I was occupying the lobby until they did it. Then I started collecting dates and incidents to make my report to the licensing body, which resulted in a temporary shutdown for mandatory center retraining and (to date) four surprise inspections from the center's regional director. I work in a heavily regulated industry myself where we deal in life and death decisions. I have zero sympathy for how hard other regulated professionals have it. Either do your job right or leave and find one you can do, but don't put people at risk and then cry like the victim when there are consequences.
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amazingwhat Mar 25, 2026 +6
Damn, you seem like a great mom
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TotallyTruthy Mar 25, 2026 +9
If I'm great at anything, then I need to humbly request the other members of the community step their game up because I'm average on a good day. But I appreciate you.
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Greatsnes Mar 25, 2026 +5
Wait I’m confused. A normal child gets hit by someone and suddenly has no cognitive skills? Was the child an infant? Can you explain, please?
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dream-smasher Mar 25, 2026 +45
Preschooler. And yes, if a person/**child** gets struck in the head by an adult. Presumably with full force, and perhaps even a secondary injury from falling down.. yea. It is quite consceivable that brain damage would result .
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Greatsnes Mar 25, 2026 -22
Okay relax with the condescending tone. I was just asking.
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SCP106 Mar 25, 2026 +7
I don't think the above comment was being condescending here that was someone going point by point on the conundrum proposed however the other one replying to you was instead being rude
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deviantelf Mar 25, 2026 +12
They weren't condescending. They answered the question, emphasizing the fact that this was about a preschooler. If they were condescending the wording would have been very different. Maybe have a think about why normal answers are making YOU feel attacked... have you hit your head recently?
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Greatsnes Mar 25, 2026 -13
Whatever you say, sport.
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Aggressive_Sky8492 Mar 25, 2026 +5
Head injuries can cause brain damage
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Macho-Fantastico Mar 25, 2026 +11
This is horrific to read. I hope everyone involved goes down for a good period of jail time.
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tshirts_birks Mar 25, 2026 +25
Absolutely disgusting people. Why do people go into these professions if they can’t handle it?! These are people’s children! Real, live human beings. How devastating.
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TurdPartyCandidate Mar 25, 2026 +9
As the parent of a 14 month old I can't describe what I would do to this person who did this if it happened to mine. 
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Alucard_117 Mar 25, 2026 +66
Outside of the insane prices in childcare today, yet another reason why my wife is a SAHM. I don't even know if I can trust the people paid to take care of my child with actually taking care of my child. I'd have a mental breakdown if I lost my kid in such an insane way.
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bunsprites Mar 25, 2026 +21
I really hate that people like this make teachers look so potentially dangerous. That's not to shame or guilt you for your worry, of course, but I just desperately wish as a preschool teacher that these people didn't force parents like you to worry like this. And I can't even call it a rarity. At my first preschool, there was an ongoing behavioral issue that was handled so terribly by everyone involved from the parents to the director to the teachers that resulted in a teacher biting a one year old so hard that he had a full circle of teeth bruises on his arm. At every step leading up to this, both the child and the teacher were failed horribly. And this was at a decently wealthy private preschool in a rich area. I quit not too long after partially because of it, especially because management treated it more as an embarrassment than they actually cared about the hurt child.
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amazingwhat Mar 25, 2026 +13
Wait a teacher bit a one year old? In what world does an adult bite a child? Holy shit.
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bunsprites Mar 25, 2026 +13
Overall a horrible combination of understaffing, management refusal to discuss behavior issues with parents (in this kid's case he could not physically stop himself from biting other kids unless he was being held) especially parents with personal/financial connections to the owners, management being so detached from classrooms that they couldn't see that they pushed too much responsibility too fast one someone who clearly could not handle it. They were told she was not fit to be a lead teacher but management just didn't have any other staff and didn't really hire anyone else. And she thought she was like. Being noble and good by refusing to quit because the school needed teachers, but she knew she couldn't handle the stress. And one day, she snaps when she's alone with too many children to fit the legal ratio for one teacher, he bites kids repeatedly during diaper changing when she can't physically hold him back from other kids. Everyone involved failed themselves, failed each other, failed her and above all else failed that kid.
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ElectronicMoo Mar 25, 2026 +20
With all the sick that my little one has been bringing home, I'm leaning the same way. Not even a half year old yet and has done stints in the hospital for flu, covid, and rsv.
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FlanneryOG Mar 25, 2026 +7
Tbf, you either deal with it now or when they start elementary school. You’re merely delaying the inevitable. Kids have to build up their immune system, and they do that by getting sick.
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kristynshep Mar 25, 2026 +4
Thats now how it works for babies and small children. They’re more at risk for serious health issues and long term effects from serious illness. Idk why people always say this it grinds my gears. A 3 month old vs a 4 year old is two very different sick.
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[deleted] Mar 25, 2026 +7
[deleted]
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lost_koshka Mar 26, 2026 -1
Honestly, it's shameful you allowed this to go on for 2 months. I would've pulled them before the end of the day.
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[deleted] Mar 25, 2026 -51
[deleted]
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bunsprites Mar 25, 2026 +30
I guess no one else but you thought it was appropriate to make a TMZ type of joke in a story about the murder of a one year old and the devastation of multiple lives
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