Being prosecuted by Milton Keynes Council under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the nursery chain pleaded guilty to 11 separate failings in training and procedure at Milton Keynes court on 8 August.
Magistrates could have fined Jigsaw up to 20,000 but decided to pass the case to Aylesbury Crown Court, which has the power to impose an even greater fine, instead. Philip Winsor, chief environmental health officer at the council, said he expected the case to be heard within the next two months. Jigsaw has agreed to pay the council's legal costs.
The inquest into Thomas's death, concluded in January this year, passed a verdict of accidental death contributed to by neglect, after he was given cereal containing milk protein on 11 April 2002. Staff at the Jigsaw Day Nursery in Browns Wood, Milton Keynes, were aware of Thomas's allergy but did not realise that the Sunrise Banana breakfast contained milk.
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