Boy died in blind cord 'accident'

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A mother had told an inquest how she left her young son for just a few minutes only to find him strangled by the cord of a window blind.

Gethin Ifor Jones had been watching cartoons shortly before the tragedy at his home in Nefyn, Gwynedd, in July this year.

His mother Llinos, 24, said she went downstairs for a short time before returning to put him to bed.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at the inquest in Caernarfon.

Giving evidence, Mrs Jones said: "I could still hear him playing but then he went quiet so I assumed he had fallen asleep and went back to his room to put him to bed.

The evidence I have heard is that the parents took every safety precaution they could to provide an ideal home for the child Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones

"As I approached his room I could see what I thought was him sitting on the window sill.

"I said to him 'come down off there' but as I got closer I realised he wasn't sitting fully.

"I wasn't sure what was going on. I put my arm around him to pick him up and that is when I realised."

Mrs Jones, who is trained in child first aid, untangled her son - who was just a few days short of his second birthday - and began performing CPR.

Her son failed to respond so she called 999 and ran to her next door neighbour, a paramedic, who was out.

She also called her husband Alan, 29, who raced from another neighbour's house and also tried to resuscitate Gethin.

Gethin was taken to hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

Slipped

Mark Lord, a doctor who carried out a post mortem examination, said he found evidence of ligature marks around the toddler's neck.

He said the cause of death was asphyxiation due to self-suspension.

Sgt Darren Kane, who attended the scene, told the coroner "every possible precaution" had been taken by the parents to prevent an accident.

He told the inquest that the cord of the blind was well above both the floor and the window sill.

Mrs Jones, who works for an accountancy firm, said: "I hadn't known [Gethin] to climb on the sill before. If he had we would never have put the blinds up in the first place.

"He must have stood on the sill and then slipped."

North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said he was a grandfather of two and when he had heard the circumstances of Gethin's death he went round his home cutting back the cords on blinds and curtains at his home.

He urged other families with small children to do the same.

He said Gethin was "perfectly healthy" in every way and the only injury he had was the one which killed him.

He said it was clear the youngster was being brought up in an "immaculate, clean and tidy home".

"The evidence I have heard is that the parents took every safety precaution they could to provide an ideal home for the child," he added.