'My son died alone, scared, and in pain'

However, it was described in court that nursery worker Cookson had been "rough" with Noah.

CCTV footage showed him "struggling and thrashing" before Cookson put her left leg across his back for seven minutes while he was face down.

Believing that he had fallen asleep, Cookson than left Noah alone.

On several occasions, staff "ignored" him and did not physically check on him for two hours.

However, after 13:12 GMT, Noah did not move again.

It wasn't until 15:13 that Cookson checked on him, noticing he was unresponsive and moved him to the nappy-changing room.

At 15:17, emergency services were called, and some members of staff started doing CPR - with many seen to be in distress. Cookson was crying.

At 15:23, paramedics arrived, and Noah was taken to an ambulance at 15:52 before being taken to hospital.

Despite the best efforts of hospital staff, he was pronounced dead at 16:15.

In a statement read out in court, Cookson said she "could not explain" why she behaved so harshly towards Noah that day and did not know why she had not checked on him, adding there was "no excuse".

She told police she had learnt how to wrap and swaddle babies on the job, and had had no formal training in how to put children down to sleep.

"I cannot imagine the pain the family is going through," she said.

"I only hope that one day they hold it in their hearts to forgive me," she added. "I never set out to harm anyone.

"What happened will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Her counsel, Rashad Mohammed KC, said: "She herself says she deserves to be punished."

The nursery apologised to Noah's family, and said his death should never have happened.

The actions of senior management amounted to a gross breach of his care, said Dominic Kay, KC for the nursery.

Criticisms that the company's nursery practitioners did not receive any training were not accepted, he added.

However, he said that in the weeks before Noah's death, CCTV footage showed that a culture appeared to have developed in the baby room "where children were not being treated with sufficient care by some of the practitioners".

This behaviour was "not stopped or challenged by at least one member of Fairytale's management", he said.

He told the court that while the sleeping pods were introduced in "good faith" in 2021, they should have been rejected as they did not comply with NHS sleep guidance.

The court heard they were also meant for outdoor use, could be too hot indoors and had a soft surface that could surround the head and face of a baby.

In a letter to the judge, nursery manager Deborah Latewood said Noah was a "beautiful, happy, loveable child".

Her counsel, Mark Balysz KC said the CCTV footage of Noah's death and what occurred leading up to it, had come as an "appalling shock" to her.

At the time of Noah's death, Latewood was spending most of her time at two other nursery sites, and did this because she thought management at the Bourne Street site were conducting themselves as they should be.

Balysz added his client was furious with herself at not identifying or knowing about the behaviour in the room where Noah died.

The KC said she was contrite and her professional and personal life had collapsed as a result of her conviction.

"Not a day passes without Mrs Latewood thinking about Noah and his family," he added.

The sentencing hearing is due to recommence at 14:30 on Friday.

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