A TODDLER’S distraught parents woke to find their son had died overnight while sleeping in their bed, an inquest heard.

Eighteen-month-old Ewan Carr died from natural causes after apparently suffering Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the coroner ruled.

Ewan’s parents, Samantha Walton and David Carr, of Spennymoor, County Durham, woke on the morning of February 6 to find he had died during the night.

Coroner Andrew Tweddle said that a post-mortem examination did not reveal any infection or obstruction that would explain the death.

But he added that experts were unable to officially classify it as SIDS as this applies only to babies aged one and under.

However, he likened Ewan’s case to SIDS, adding: “Ewan has died from natural causes, but we don’t know specifically what those natural causes were.

“Whether it is sudden death syndrome we don’t know but, taking all the evidence into account, I’m prepared to conclude it was from natural causes.”

Miss Walton told the Chester-le-Street inquest that Ewan’s grandmother had been babysitting while the couple had an evening out.

She returned to their Broom Street home at about 10.45pm, followed later by Mr Carr.

Miss Walton said she checked on Ewan, who was then sleeping alone, before going to bed herself.

She got up as normal at 1.30am to feed Ewan and then brought him into the couple’s bed.

It was not until her partner’s alarm went off at 6am that they made the tragic discovery.

Mr Tweddle asked both parents if they could have harmed Ewan by accidentally lying on him.

She replied: “Ewan was a big lad for his age and he could communicate with us.

“He would have been able to let us know if he was uncomfortable or if he was hurt.”

Mr Carr gave the same account of the night and Detective Sergeant Warren Hawes, from Spennymoor CID, told the inquest that a police investigation ruled out any suspicious circumstances.