A TODDLER may have tried to change her baby brother’s nappy before he suffocated to death in his cot, an inquest has heard.

The three-year-old was alone with her six-month-old brother Feonyx Clarke before he was found face-down, with nappy bags near his head.

Feonyx, of Hazeldene Close, Eynsham, died at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital on May 25, this year, less than 24 hours after he was found.

Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter recorded an open verdict at the inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court in County Hall on Wednesday.

He stated it was possible Feonyx’s sister was trying to change his nappy on her own while their mother was downstairs.

Mother Kirsty Clarke had earlier told the hearing her three-year-old daughter, referred in the inquest as "T" to protect her identity, may have tried to change Feonyx in his cot in an upstairs room without her knowledge.

A pathologist told the inquest Feonyx’s brain was starved of oxygen, but could not explain how this happened.

The unusued nappy bags which were found in Feonyx's cot, had not been there when his mother checked on him 20 minutes earlier.

Dr Steve Gould, a consultant paediatric pathologist, gave a cause of death as a brain injury and sudden unexpected death in infancy.

Mr Salter added: “It was very sad and tragic death."