Baby died after social workers failed to heed danger alerts

a jumper while he played on his Xbox.

The inquest heard the couple called 999 when they saw the jumper had fallen over the child’s face, but gave inconsistent stories when they arrived at the hospital.

Barker told the inquest he “prop fed” Alex because he could not bond with him. He put his jumper in the cot so the baby could sense his smell to help the bonding process.

The father said: “I had got distant I didn’t want to pick him up. It wasn’t Alex’s fault. I’m not blaming him. Half the time I didn’t know what I was doing. I was in dark places.”

He admitted he should not have put his jumper into the cot. He said: “For the rest of my life I will never stop feeling guilty for that.”

Miss Goldthorpe told the hearing she found Alex was not breathing when she went to change his nappy. “I noticed he had the jumper on his face. He was very pale in colour.”

Dr Alfredo Walker, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Alex after he died in hospital said his brain was starved of oxygen due to an “unknown cause”.

Sheffield’s social services manager Karen Walker told the inquest procedures within the social services department had been overhauled and any response to referrals would now be more co-ordinated. She said: “We could have been more robust and it could have led us to do things sooner. The family at the time may have needed more support.”

Barker and Miss Goldthorpe were initially charged with neglect after Alex’s death but the prosecution offered no evidence when the case came to court.

Instead, Barker admitted a further neglect charge relating to an incident when Alex was thrown across a room onto a settee.

He was given a two-year community order with supervision and banned from having any contact with children under 14 for the duration of the order.

A CPS spokesman said: “At the trial the decision was taken not to proceed with the charges against Bethany Goldthorpe on evidential grounds and to secure a conviction for Andrew Barker by accepting his guilty plea on one of the charges.”

A spokesman from Sheffield Council said: “Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board is undertaking a joint serious case review. The review will highlight any lessons to be learned and will encompass any concerns about how all agencies shared information.

“The council is waiting for the coroners ruling to help us conclude this review.”

Mr Dorries adjourned the inquest and will give a written judgment at a later date.

Comment: Page 12.