Two Burnley nursery staff admit assaults on children

A third person, a student on placement, of Playdor Nursery School, Bank Parade, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of assaulting a child at the hearing.

Alishba Chaudhry, 19, of Dover Street, Nelson, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting the same child.

Jamair Hussain Nilam, 23, of Heath Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to four charges of assault involving three children.

They were both remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Mehwish Batool Kauser Khan, 22, of Redvers Street, Nelson, pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault and was remanded on bail for a trial, due to take place in 2025.

Playdor Nursery School in Burnley (Image: Google)

Rachael Evans, prosecuting, said the assaults took place while the two defendants were employed by the nursery and the children were pupils.

Both women worked in the same room and a manager viewed CCTV as part of a routine check.

“They noticed a number of incidents which are considered to be assaults,” said Miss Evans.

She said the children were vulnerable due to their age.

“The Crown does not put forward any injuries but rather it is the emotional impact on the children,” said Miss Evans.

“Other aggravating factors are the presence of other children in the room and abuse of power by people in a position of trust. They were employed to look after the children.”

Miss Evans said CCTV footage of the incidents would be available for the court to view at the sentencing hearing.

The nursery, which caters for more than 100 children, was rated as ‘good’ in its last inspection by the education watchdog Ofsted in March 2023.

The watchdog was notified of an unspecified safeguarding complaint at the Playdor nursery in February.

An announced regulatory visit took place in June.

While it was found the nursery was not meeting some safeguarding requirements, action was said to have been taken to “immediately put this right”.