Cot designer jailed after baby boy got head stuck and died
A COT designer was jailed for three years yesterday after a seven-month-old baby boy died in a bed he had created.
Craig Williams, 37, was told he held “significant responsibility” for the death of Oscar Abbey.
He had “an utterly indifferent attitude towards the safety of small children”, a court heard.
Parents found the lifeless body of Oscar after he had got his head stuck while trying to crawl through a gap in the bed in November 2016.
Oscar was in the bottom part of the bed while his older brother slept above.
Prosecutors said Williams, owner of Playtime Beds, had given reassurances that the cot was suitable for children aged six or seven months.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Williams, of Rotherham, did not modify his designs and continued to sell the beds after the tragedy.
Prosecutor John Elvidge QC said Williams demonstrated “an utterly indifferent attitude towards the safety of small children, even after he had been visited by police in relation to Oscar’s death”.
Father-of-three Williams had been on trial for manslaughter by gross negligence.
But a jury was asked to return a not guilty verdict on this count after he admitted failing to discharge an employer’s general duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Having also pleaded guilty to a count of fraud, he wiped away a tear as he was jailed.
Judge Martin Spencer told Williams he had a “significant responsibility” for the death, adding: “You should bear the brunt of that responsibility for the rest of your life.”
He added that Williams had shown a “flagrant disregard” for safety standards and committed a “wicked fraud” by continuing to sell beds following the death.
Williams’s employee Joseph Bruce, 31, of Rotherham, was jailed for six months after admitting a single count of fraud.
Jurors heard a statement from Oscar’s father, Charlie Abbey, 24, in which he described the moment he discovered his son’s body at the family home in York.
He said: “I instantly realised that he’d gone. It looked like he had tried to crawl out backwards but his head was stuck.”
His wife Shannon, 23, added: “I heard Charlie shouting and scream, ‘He’s not breathing’. I ran to the landing and Charlie was holding Oscar in both arms.”