A BABY boy was discovered lifeless and face down on top of his parents' duvet, an inquest heard.

Tot Marley Quinn had died from natural causes at his home in Perseverance Street, Baildon, a coroner concluded.

An inquest held in Bradford yesterday heard how the 12-week-old, who had just begun to smile, had been well when he was put in his cot the night before his death.

His ex-detective father Neal Parry found him halfway down the king-size bed the next morning after realising his son was not in his cot. The night before it happened, Mr Parry and his partner Roisin Quinn had been on their first night out together since Marley was born three weeks premature on a caravanning holiday in Anglesey.

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said it would be entirely inappropriate to say anything critical of Marley's parents who were caring and loving.

Mr Parry's 16-year-old daughter Pheobe had babysat for them with a friend and the couple were "giddy but not drunk" when they got back, the inquest was told.

The family had gone to bed at around midnight after a take-away and Ms Quinn had woken up to feed Marley with a bottle in bed around 2am.

Usually, she would then change his nappy on top of the bed and put him back in his cot but the inquest heard she could not remember doing it that morning and must have fallen asleep.

Mr Parry had lifted Marley up after finding him on top of the bed, woke up Miss Quinn and put him back in his cot, realising it was too late to save him.

He went to his daughter's bedroom to tell her the news and asked her to go and say goodbye to her little brother before the emergency services arrived. He knew from his experience in the police that Marley was beyond help. Paramedics took Marley to Bradford Royal Infirmary where doctors confirmed he had been dead for some time.

Mr Longstaff was told the baby's parents did not co-sleep with Marley but he said: "It's a fact of life that many families allow their young ones to bed-share, often because of the fatigue of parenthood. It would be entirely inappropriate to say anything critical of Marley's parents. They were caring, loving parents who are distraught at their loss."

Marley's death featured some risk factors of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He had signs of a recent cold and was in his parent's bed, said forensic pathologist Dr Kelly Turner. She also said there was a strong possibility of accidental suffocation but it could not be proved at post mortem.

Mr Longstaff concluded Marley had died from natural causes on October 4 last year.