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Baby death nursery company fined

Georgia choked at the Just Learning Nursery in Cambridgeshire

A Cambridgeshire nursery where a baby choked to death has been fined £67,000 plus £78,000 costs after admitting breaching health and safety laws.

Just Learning, in Cambourne, admitted at Cambridge Crown Court one breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Georgia Hollick died in April 2006 when she was 10 months old.

Just Learning, which no longer runs the nursery said it had since "put its house in order" and said it was "very sorry" for the distress caused.

Environmental health officers at South Cambridgeshire District Council brought the case to court.

A council spokeswoman said the fine "properly reflected the seriousness of the offences".

Environmental health officials said Just Learning had not implemented a proper system to assess risks and failed to assess risks sufficiently.

The allegations arose out of investigations which followed Georgia's death.

A spokesman for Just Learning Ltd, of High Street, West Malling, Kent, said prosecutors had not alleged that Georgia's death was caused by any "deficiency" in procedures.

"The company is very sorry for the distress caused to the family of Georgia," he said.

"This has deeply affected all of us."