A Perthshire nursery has been reported to the Care Inspectorate after a two-year-old boy escaped from its garden.
The incident happened around 10am on September 15 at the Humpty Dumpty Early Years Care centre in Rattray, Blairgowrie.
Michael McGivern managed to get out of the nursery and ended up being rescued by a member of the nursery’s staff on a pavement in the High Street.
Michael’s concerned parents, Brendan McGivern (30) and Nicola Shepherd (29), of Davie Park Place, Rattray, Blairgowrie, spoke exclusively to The Courier about the incident and said they want action taken to prevent a possible ”tragedy” happening.
However, the manager of the Humpty Dumpty Playgroup defended her staff, claiming the child has a ”track record” of escaping.
The nursery is registered with the Care Inspectorate and is a member of the Scottish Pre-School Play Association.
Ms Shepherd, a mother of five, said she was phoned around 10.15am on September 15 by the assistant manager at the nursery to inform her of the alarming incident.
”I received a phone call from the nursery telling me that Michael had managed to get out but that he had been found,” she said. ”We still don’t know how he managed to get out. Michael is a bit of an escape artist, but they have a gate and 12ft fence at the nursery.
”I’ve made a verbal complaint to the Care Inspectorate and am waiting for someone to get back to me. There is a gate at the entrance to the nursery, but it must have been open. I just feel that the nursery are trying to blame me by saying that Michael has done this before.”’Awful’Brendan added: ”I would feel awful if something happened to another kid. If this happened in a care home there would be hell to pay the nursery are trying to play it down. There is a gate at the nursery, but it isn’t usually shut.
”Michael was found on the pavement of the High Street but could have been knocked down by a car or a van.
”There needs to be secure entry at the nursery to prevent things like this happening. There were three adults in charge at that nursery, so they are to blame.
”Michael started going to the nursery in June and there are around 13 kids that go there. This kind of thing should not be allowed to happen.”
Another Rattray parent, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed a lorry, van and car all had to stop as the toddler walked on the pavement of the High Street.
He feels the whole matter should be investigated.
”This could have had horrendous, potentially fatal, consequences the parents could have been told to pick their kid up from the slab,” he said.
He added: “The playgroup leader has been trying to sweep this under the carpet and has denied there have been complaints made. She admitted the child did escape but made out he must have scaled a 12ft fence, which is impossible for a child his age.’Serious lapse'”It is a serious lapse of security and is really serious. Obviously, all the parents who have kids at the nursery are concerned.”
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate confirmed it will look into the incident.
“We will be following this up with the management of the nursery and, if required, we will take action to improve procedures,” he said.
Karen Thorburn, the manager at the Humpty Dumpty Early Years Care, said she was aware the matter had been reported to the Care Inspectorate but claimed her staff were not to blame.
“Although I wasn’t present at the time, I can confirm that a child got out of our garden area,” she said. “We’ve yet to discover how he managed to get out as there is a gate and the area is fenced in. We can only assume that he climbed out, which is rather unfortunate.
“However, the little boy has a track record of escaping from his own home.”
She continued: “The staff are not at fault we do everything to ensure the safety of the children here. We have put sanctions in place to make sure this never happens again.”
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said: “We have been made aware of the incident, but as we don’t have a contract with the nursery concerned we wouldn’t have any comment to make.”