Sentence || A nursery teacher who caused severe burns in a 14-month-old toddler in her care due to negligent conduct has been sentenced to 300 hours’ community service in the burn unit of the Dona Estefânia Hospital in Lisbon. The negligence case dates back to 2011 when the woman worked at a day nursery in Massamá.
Ana Filipa Silva will also have to pay €25,000 compensation to the child’s family for the consequences of her negligent conduct while giving the baby girl a bath.
Little Margarida had soiled her diaper and was taken by Ana Silva for a bath. When the carer placed the baby in the bathtub and turned on the tap, which was connected to an electric boiler, she failed to check the water temperature and boiling water poured out, causing second degree burns on the child.
According to Correio da Manhã newspaper, the judge at the Court of Sintra said: “You knew that the water temperature was high and needed to be brought down.
“Your actions contradict the most basic rules of common sense. You do not need a degree to know that you do not handle hot water with a baby in your arms.”
The child – now four-years-old – had to be cared for in the burn unit of Dona Estefânia for well over a year and was left scarred for life.
“As a woman, she will find it difficult to wear a bikini and will never be able to follow a career in fashion,” the judge said.
Negligent nursery teacher does time in hospital burn unit
