Baby killed by a cat
Pet curls up in warmth of cot and smothers boy if six weeks

LONDON: A six-week-old baby died after being smothered in his sleep by his family's cat.

The pet curled up on Kieron Johnson's face after climbing into his cot looking for somewhere warm to sleep.

The tragedy was discovered in the early hours when the baby's mother Nicola tried to wake him for a feed.

his distraught parents and paramedics tried desperately to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at hospital.

The death has prompted a warning to parents to ensure that cats do not have access to babies' rooms and that young children should be protected by nets strung over their cots while asleep.

The incident happened on December 21 at the family's home in Kingsteignton, Devon, where Kieron lived with his parents Ian Johnson, 28, and Nicola Payne, who is understood to be in her late twenties.

A family friend said: "It seems the cat got into the baby's room and feel asleep on his face, causing him to suffocate. The child was in a separate room from his parents.

"Kieron was born a couple of months prematurely and his mother had to give him four-hourly feeds through the night. She was up at 1am feeding him and he was fine. But she set the alarm for the 5am feed and found the cat on his face".

"There was nothing they could have done for the poor little chap".

Police are treating the death as "a tragic incident" and say there are no  suspicious circumstances.

Detective Inspector Steve Turpin said the family was "devastated" by what had happened.

He added: "It is early days in our inquiries. There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances. The post-mortem will reveal the exact cause of death. This type of incident is very rare but is always the more tragic at this time of year". --- DM