COT manufacturers have apologised to a four year old girl they accused of killing her baby sister.

Seven week old Grace Roseman, of Haywards Heath, died in her Bednest co-sleeper cot. But the makers of the £300 crib refused to accept the design of the bed was responsible and suggested Grace's older sister Pearl- then aged just two and a half - might have adjusted the crib's sides, killing her sister.

Now Bednest managing director Mark Green has told The Argus: "We deeply regret the suggestion by experts that Pearl might have been involved in this tragic accident and apologise unreservedly to the Roseman family including Pearl."

Grace's parents Esther and Gideon said they had not had time to grieve since her death in April 2015 because they have been trying to protect Pearl from the accusations.

Two months after Grace’s death, the cot company's experts claimed there was no way a baby her age could have lifted her head onto the side of the cot - a claim disproved by two other experts at Grace's inquest.

Bednest then raised the suggestion that Pearl might have been to blame.

Esther said: "When we thought we had lost everything, they tried to take away even more.

"I have been in pieces because I lost Grace and I was terrified that Pearl’s world might also be destroyed.

"The handle is too high for her to reach, She couldn’t have pulled the door closed and left it in the same position.

"That morning, she had all my attention. I was with her the whole time.

Barrister Gideon said: "We lost Grace and now we have been through this unbelievably awful ordeal.

"People have said terrible things. Then they went after Pearl. It was truly disgusting.’

Coroner Penelope Schofield said she found it "particularly unpalatable" that Bednest had pointed the finger of blame at Pearl, now four, adding "there was no evidence on which to base this proposition."

Addressing the Roseman's after the inquest she added: "It must have been particularly harrowing for you to be faced with the suggestion by Bednest experts over the possible involvement of your daughter Pearl in Grace's death.

"In my view there is a need for a stronger warning to come out from the company with regards to the risk to infants.

"The risk of the use of the cot with the half folded side did not appear to have been identified by the manufacturer."

The Rosemans are considering whether to take further legal action against the firm.