Baby Died Tangled In Blind Cord

An 18-month-old boy died after becoming entangled in the cord of a blind in his bedroom in Poole, an inquest has heard.

Rithik Chakrabarti was found by his father Amitabha lying on his bed in an awkward position with the window blind cord around his neck.

Dr Chakrabarti and his wife Goswami, both doctors, tried desperately to resuscitate their son and he was rushed to hospital but declared dead an hour later.

Rithik's father said he had left his home on the morning of May 5 and gone to work without seeing his son.

Breaking down in tears, Dr Chakrabarti was comforted by his wife as he told the Bournemouth hearing:

''No, he was asleep when I left for work, so I didn't actually get to see him.''

He told the inquest he had arrived home at 7pm that evening to learn that Rithik was asleep in bed having been put to bed by his mother. Dr Chakrabarti went to his son's bedroom to wake him because he was worried if he did not then Rithik would not sleep well that night.

''The line was around his neck. It was very tight. I asked my wife to get scissors to cut it,'' he said. ''I got him in my arms but I knew he wasn't breathing because he was blue and cold.

''My wife was doing chest compressions and we tried to resuscitate him and I started to do mouth-to-mouth. She dialled 999 and the ambulance people came so very quickly and then he was taken to the hospital.''

Detective Sergeant Steve Symms, who investigated Rithik's death, said there were no suspicious circumstances. Professor Rupert Risden, who carried out the post-mortem examination, found that Rithik had died from asphyxiation due to ligature compression of the neck.

Brendan Allen, the deputy coroner for Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset, recorded a verdict of accidental death.