A DOWN'S Syndrome toddler was found hanging from a roller blind cord after a freak accident in her bedroom, an inquest heard.
Tragic two-year-old Lucy Cutts, described as confident and always on the go, was found slumped on a bunk bed ladder with the cord around her neck, district coroner Sheriff Payne was told.
Her distraught mum, Annette Latimer, told the Bournemouth inquest she discovered her daughter's body at their home in Wallisdown on the morning of July 10.
It is not known exactly how the little girl ended up with the beaded cord around her neck, but her nursery manager, Angie Prieur, told the coroner: "She was always on the go and into everything, not thinking of the consequences of what would happen."
And she said Lucy required one-to-one support at nursery "at all times for her safety".
The inquest heard Lucy's mother woke at 7.30am and discovered that her four-year-old son, Billy, was downstairs watching television.
Around 20 minutes later she became concerned because the house was quiet and entered the bedroom her children shared to discover the tragedy.
Witnesses told how Lucy, born in April 2006 with Down's Syndrome and a hole in the heart, had thrived in recent months and was considered to be doing very well by health professionals.
The cause of her death was recorded as asphyxia due to compression of the neck by a ligature, and a police investigation concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Payne said: "Nothing about her home or her care has been criticised in any way - this was a loving mum who looked after her children and cared for them properly.
"Lucy was a child who possibly could not appreciate dangerous situations. The circumstances clearly indicate that this was a complete accident - no one can be held to blame at all for what has happened.
"Here was an active child who did not appreciate normal dangers that other children might appreciate."
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