Cot builder denies causing baby death
A seven-month-old baby choked to death in his cot due to the gross negligence of the designer, a jury was told.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Oscar Abbey was found by his parents, caught in the side of his bed at their home in York.
Craig Williams, the owner of the bed company, denies gross negligence manslaughter.
A SEVEN-MONTH-OLD baby choked to death in his cot due to the gross negligence of the designer of the bed, a jury has been told.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Oscar Abbey was found by his parents, caught in the side of his bed at their home in York.
Yesterday, Craig Williams, the owner of the company which sold the bed to Charlie and Shannon Abbey, went on trial accused of gross negligence manslaughter.
John Elvidge QC, prosecuting, said Oscar died on November 3 2016 of positional asphyxia.
He said: “During the course of the night, he wriggled his body through the holes at the front of his cot bed. His head was too big to fit through.
“In effect, he choked to death. He was starved of oxygen.”
Mr Elvidge told the jury: “He died because the cot bed bought by his parents from the defendant’s company was designed and constructed without any care or thought for the safety of the child who was sleeping in it. Oscar died, say the prosecution, because of the defendant’s gross negligence.”
The prosecutor said Mr and Mrs Abbey bought the bed from Williams’s Sheffield company, Playtime Beds Ltd, for £655, including delivery.
Mr Elvidge said Williams was the designer of the firm’s beds and “controlling mind” of the company, which had two other employees.
The company made bespoke, MDF beds in a range of shapes, the jury heard.
The court heard that the unit sold to the Abbeys included the cot and a bed for Oscar’s two-anda-half-year-old brother, Maxwell.
Mr Elvidge said Mrs Abbey specifically asked Williams before purchase: “What age is the lower bed suitable for?” He said WIlliams replied: “Any age.”
Mr Elvidge said Oscar had only started using the cot on October 28.
Williams, of Park View Road, Kimberworth, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, denies manslaughter and fraud.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Abbey, 24, described finding his son trapped facedown in the front of the cot.
He said: “I instantly realised he’d gone.
“It looked like he’s tried to crawl out backwards but his head was stuck.”
Earlier Mr Elvidge said a customer had contacted Playtime Beds in March 2016 complaining that the product she bought did not comply with the correct standards.
He said Williams replied to the woman that “the bed is above safety standards” and “I have been in touch with trading standards and they are happy with my products”.
Mr Elvidge said trading standards officers had no record of contact from Williams.
The prosecutor said: “The defendant was aware of the risks to safety presented by his designs but he chose to ignore those risks, probably in his desire to make and save money.”
Mr Elvidge said that, after Oscar’s death, Williams did not stop making beds and did not even alter his designs.
Bruce, 30, of Kimberworth Park Road, Rotherham, has admitted fraud, the jury was told.
Mr Elvidge said Playtime Beds made around three beds a week and had manufactured about 450 over three years.
The trial was adjourned until today.
Oscar died... because of the defendant’s gross negligence John Elvidge QC, prosecuting, at Leeds Crown Court