A nursery has been ordered to pay out £20,400 after a toddler was scarred for life by scalding water.
The little girl sustained severe burns to her head, face and neck that required specialist hospital treatment, Lincoln Crown Court heard on Monday.
The incident happened at The Children’s Garden Day Nursery in Stamford in 2023 and led to the operators admitting two Health and Safety offences in court.
In a victim impact statement read out at the sentencing hearing, the girl’s mum said: “Her scars will be for life, and she will need more surgery and more treatments as she grows up.
“The fact that we handed our daughter over, where we felt she was safe is what we struggle with and the guilt around this will not leave us.”
Judge Sjolin Knight said the girl was lucky not to have been more seriously injured.
Alison Lambert, prosecuting for South Kesteven District Council, said the toddler was injured when an open-topped milk bottle warmer toppled over on a worktop in the nursery’s baby room.
Ms Lambert said the use of the device had been risk-assessed, but not sufficiently so. It had been connected to a plug socket in a cupboard beneath the counter by an extension cable.
Judge Knight said the circumstances of how the bottle warmer came to tip over were not totally understood.
The nursery admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of non-members of staff and failing to report an incident to the relevant authority (SKDC) by the quickest practical means, and within ten days. Both charges are stipulations of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The judge issued a £600 fine for the first offence, but after determining the level of culpability under legislation was low, reduced this to £400 for early guilty pleas.
There was no separate penalty for the second offence as the incident was reported by the nursery, but to the wrong regulatory authority.
In awarding prosecution costs of £20,000 to the council, the judge said: “It is really important that incidents like this are fully and properly investigated and prosecuted.”
The judge said she was sentencing purely for the health and safety breaches in what was an isolated incident and that compensation for injuries sustained was being dealt with in the civil courts.
In her victim impact statement, the girl’s mum also thanked SKDC’s Environmental Health Commercial Team for their dedication and support.
She wrote: “Our dream would be that legislation changes in nurseries, and that no food prep should be in any room where children are playing.”
Ali Bajwa KC, defending, said the operators of the Children’s Garden Day Nursery partnership were “mortified” that the bottle heater had inflicted such horrific injuries.
Mr Bajwa said his client had taken steps to ensure the incident could not be repeated, including replacing the bottle warmer with one that doesn’t use hot water.
As a result of the findings of its investigation, the commercial team at SKDC wrote to all similar businesses reminding them of the risks associated with scalding.
Council officers also carried out a series of checks during food hygiene inspections to reaffirm such businesses had suitable practices in place, including the handling of hot water in locations away from young children.
The identity of the child involved is protected by an Order made in court, due to her age.