Two Tooting parents were left devastated by the sudden unexplained death of their baby son, an inquest heard on Thursday.

Raphael Okyere died aged 18 days after having a nap in his Fernthorpe Road home, but the exact cause will never be known, Westminster Coroner’s Court was told.

His parents, Benjamin Okyere and Barbara Arhin, took him to St George’s Hospital just after 9pm Monday, September 7, when he began vomiting, acting irritably and breathing with difficulty.

His condition worsened, and despite doctors’ resuscitation efforts he was pronounced dead at 10.34pm.

The coroner, Dr Shirley Radcliffe, said: “At the end of the day this baby died of natural causes.

"There was nothing that you or your wife could have done. This was just a tragic loss of your son’s life through no fault of anyone’s.”

Dr Iona Jeffrey, who produced the postmortem examination report, said there were no signs of viruses or threatening bacteria, although there was evidence of a mild intestinal infection.

She added it was possible that the heart was infected, since this can go unnoticed in the most rigorous of lab tests.

Dr Radcliffe said the baby died of sudden unexpected death in infancy, with a lower intestinal infection and mild dehydration possibly contributing.

She recorded death by natural causes.