A BABY boy suffocated to death while sleeping in the same bed as his parents, an inquest heard.

Four month-old Leighton Victor David Campbell was found under the right arm of his mother, Michelle Marie Campbell, on December 20, last year.

An inquest at Wallasey Town Hall heard how Michelle and the child's father Terence Holden, from Orlando Close, Prenton, shared a bottle of brandy before going to bed at 10pm.

The baby fell asleep next to his parents after they had given him a bottle of milk.

In a statement read to the court, Terence Holden said he had woken up and noticed the baby was unresponsive under his mother's arm.

Mr Holden said the infant had blood in his mouth and that he "threw" Michelle out of the bed in order to attend to the child.

Leighton was later pronounced dead at Arrowe Park Hospital, at 5.27am on December 21.

A post mortem was carried out at Alder Hey Children's Hospital into whether a case of sudden infant death syndrome could have been the cause of death.

It was discovered that the baby's lungs showed evidence of a pulmonary haemorrhage - bleeding from the lung - and the severity of that and the nose bleed did not point to SIDS.

The result of the post mortem indicated that the death was highly suggestive, but not absolutely definitive, of accidental smothering.

Both parents had been drinking and when tested, it was calculated that Mr Holden would have had 143mg of alcohol in his blood at the time of the boy's death - over one a half times the legal limit for driving - and Ms Campbell 117mg.

Wirral Family Support Unit had become involved on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Services for consideration of any offence that may have been disclosed, said Mr Johnson.

The CPS concluded that it would not be in the public interest to pursue a prosecution against the parents.

A narrative verdict was given of accidental smothering under the right arm of the mother.

"This tragically indicates co-sleeping dangers and of a child sleeping with either one or both parents, and in this case both parents had been drinking," said Mr Johnson.

He said the death of Leighton was due to accidental smothering as a result of being in an unsafe sleeping environment.