A CORONER has blasted the manufacturer of a bedside cot in which a seven-week-old baby died for its "lack of compassion", and warned infants are still at risk.

Grace Roseman died when she managed to get her head over a half-lowered side of a Bednest crib at her home in Haywards Heath, on April 9 2015.

She was unable to lift her head up again from the side of the top-of-the-range cot and died of asphyxia.

West Sussex coroner Penelope Schofield said the manufacturer as well as the Furniture Industry Research Association, which approved the product, had failed to foresee the risk.

And she said she was concerned Bednest did not "fully appreciate" the ongoing risks of the existing unmodified cots that are still being used.

Ms Schofield also criticised Bednest for suggesting Grace's sister, Pearl, who was two-and-a-half years old at the time, was somehow involved in the death.

She said: "What has struck me is their lack of compassion over this issue. I am disappointed no-one from the company was here to listen to the evidence by the experts."

Ms Schofield said the existing industry standards concerning bedside cots were not "fit for purpose" and she would be writing to the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy to notify them of her concerns as well as notifying the European Committee for Standardisation.

West Sussex Trading Standards and Sussex Police branded the cot, which had been endorsed by the National Childbirth Trust, "unsafe and dangerous" when the side was half down, the inquest heard. Bednest has since modified the design to stop the sides from being kept in that position. Instructions have now been put on its website and warning labels placed on the cot.

Ms Schofield added: "I do not want to create panic amongst consumers but it's clear to me infants under six months should not be left in any crib where the side has been partially lowered and death in these circumstances could occur in a matter of seconds. It would be irrelevant whether a baby was being supervised or not."

Ms Schofield recorded a conclusion of accidental death. She will update a Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths she previously issued.

The Roseman family was given the cot second hand by a family member without instructions. They fear the cot is still on the market second hand and Bednest had been unable to contact the owners of 3,300 of them in order to issue a modification to the crib.

Grace's father Gideon Roseman said: "I do not think anyone should be buying any products from a company as despicable as Bednest."