Nursery owners face legal action over toddler’s death

Posted 07/12/2010

The parents of a toddler who died at nursery have lodged a compensation claim in a bid to hold the owners responsible.

Two-year-old Rhiya Malin was attending the Eton Manor Children’s Day Nursery in Essex when she got her head stuck between the roof and the wall of a playhouse.

She struggled and suffered a compression of the neck, which was only discovered when staff found she was missing after calling all the children back.

Rhiya could not be resuscitated and later died from her injuries.

Her parents Jay and Shatl claim that the nursery was responsible because it did not ensure adequate supervision of the children and are seeking damages from Casterbridge Care and Education.

A court hearing this week was told that some staff had been using mobile phones to make personal calls at around the time of the accident in November 2007, the Daily Mail reports.

“It’s not good enough just for lessons to be learned, there have to be consequences for the people who were responsible,” Mr Malin stated.

The nursery declined to comment on the legal action.

UK regulations state that there should be a ratio of one adult per four children aged two to three in nurseries and schools in the UK, according to Ask-Nanny.com.

Simon Davis, an injury specialist at Ashtons Legal, comments: “This is a sad tale. Readers may be shocked to know that any compensation arising out of this little girl’s death will be limited to an award for bereavement of £11,800 and funeral expenses. It opens the question as to whether we should value life more highly in terms of damages.”