Baby Saved By Video Monitor When Choked By ‘Death Trap’ Cot
A 19-month-old girl had a close brush with death when she was gripped by the neck, climbing on what has been dubbed a “death trap” cot. It was only the baby video monitor that saved her life.
In the video above, tiny Ophelia Conant can be climbing on her cot and becoming trapped by the head.
An investigation into the product was run by Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards. According to the Mirror Online, Phillip Dickens, 38, the owner of the furniture company that sold the death trap cot, has now received a suspended jail sentence, having admitted he placed an unsafe product out on the market.
Dickens was also fined £12,000 (around $18,000) after he admitted to placing an unsafe product on the market.
Moment mum spotted baby girl being choked by ‘death trap’ cot on video monitor http://t.co/KfgrEIrR9U pic.twitter.com/UQnNxxmSEI
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) April 14, 2015
Dickens, pictured above left, said he imported the death trap cots relying solely on Chinese health and safety checks. Those checks reportedly fall way below the health and safety standards set in the United Kingdom.
Reportedly no further health or safety tests were carried out in the U.K., meaning the cots only received the lower standard of quality control tests made in the Chinese factory.
As can be seen, Ophelia was left dangling in the air, hanging by her neck, and was only saved when her mother, Louise Conant, spotted her on the video monitor in her room. Louise immediately ran to rescue her baby and immediately reported the death trap cot to the supplier.
When the matter reached the court, the judge in Amersham Crown Court did not jail Dickens, as apparently there was no intent to cause injury. However, Judge Karen Holt said that seeing her baby dangling by her neck was, for the mother, “beyond description and completely traumatic to her.”
“In her view, it is without doubt the fact she had a video monitor that saved her daughter’s life. This is a serious offense because it came through your negligence. It could have caused the loss of life of babies.”
The judge continued by saying the product itself was being utilized by the most vulnerable people in society and told Dickens “I know that you accept that.”
According to the Banbury Guardian, nine days earlier another mother, Deborah Turner, who had bought the same type of Nutkin cotbed, found her son dangling out of the cot with his forehead jammed against the horizontal handrail.
Following the incident, and after receiving the video footage captured on the video monitor, the company immediately attempted to recall all 212 cots they have sold around the U.K.
In other close calls relating to youngsters, the Inquisitr recently reported on the case of the mother who dangled her child over the cheetah enclosure at Cleveland Zoo and then dropped him.
[Image: Screengrab from video]
