Toddler kills sibling by sitting on him

London, Dec 6 (UNI) In a bizarre incident, a three-year old British toddler 'accidentally' killed her younger sibling by sitting on him.

Their mother, Georgina Bartlett, left six-month-old James sleeping in a rubber activity ring while she went upstairs.

She came back down to find her daughter Abigail sitting on the ring and her son slumped lifeless.

James was flown by air ambulance to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A police investigation was launched, but Detective Sergeant Mark Whittaker told the inquest no suspicious circumstances were found and the baby's cause of death was recorded as acute asphyxia.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Alan Crickmore told the Bartletts that their daughter was not to be blamed for the tragedy.

''A three-and-a-half-year-old cannot be expected to understand that this could lead to a catastrophe, especially as she had shown such loving attention to her brother, rather than a jealous one,'' the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

Later, Mr and Mrs Bartlett, who have no other children, said,''We are a family and are facing this together. We would like to thank the hospital for everything they did.'' UNI