THE DEATH of a 19-week-old baby girl was ‘unexplained’, an inquest found.

Alissa-Mai Hefford-Davison who lived at Violet Street, Burnley, died on May 5 2017, after her parents woke up to find she wasn’t breathing.

Presiding over the inquest at Blackburn Town Hall, coroner Richard Taylor told the court that the family, which included mum, Abbie Hefford, dad, Jamie Davison and two other children, were all sleeping in their living room to keep warm due to their boiler being broken.

Mr Taylor said the family were in the process of seeking alternative accommodation and while they did so, Miss Hefford was sleeping on the floor with her two older children while Mr Davison slept with Alissa-Mai on two sofas which had been pushed together.

Alissa-Mai’s family were not present at the inquest but in a statement read out in court by Mr Taylor, her father, Jamie Davison said: “We had pushed two sofas together to make a double bed, and Alissa was under the cover and I was watching TV.

“She became unsettled so I got up to feed her and she drank a full bottle and then fell asleep.

“She was on her back on one side of the sofa and I was on the other side, and then I fell asleep.

“I woke up at about 6am and she was still on her side of the sofa on her back. I could tell she wasn’t breathing; I picked her up and she felt cold.”

Mr Taylor told the court that Mr Davison then shouted to his partner Miss Hefford, before calling an ambulance and starting CPR.

Alissa-Mai was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital but was pronounced dead soon after.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Dr Gauri Batra, a pathologist at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital said that Alissa-Mai was a healthy child and following extensive external and internal examinations there was no evidence of a specific cause of death.

She said: “There were no underlying disorders, and her cause of death was unascertained.”

In concluding, Mr Taylor said: “Given the evidence from Dr Batra, this was an unexplained death with no compelling evidence of a cause.

“Given the circumstances, I return an open conclusion finding that Alissa-Mai died at Royal Blackburn Hospital on May 5 2017 from an unknown cause.”