Overview
- Zoe and Lewis Steeper agreed an undisclosed six-figure settlement with the now-closed Jelly Beans Day Nursery, reached without any admission of liability.
- Their nine-month-old son, Oliver, choked on chopped pasta at the Kent nursery on 23 September 2021 and died six days later after a catastrophic brain injury.
- The couple, represented by law firm Leigh Day, said their action was about accountability rather than compensation.
- An inquest found the nursery's first-aid response was overall of a poor standard and warned that having only one first-aider per nursery could risk future lives.
- Ministers have since introduced rules requiring a staff member with a valid paediatric first-aid certificate to be present in the room while children are eating, as the family continues campaigning through the Oliver Steeper Foundation to provide LifeVac anti-choking devices.