A FIVE-MONTH-OLD twin boy who was found dead in his cot is believed to have been a victim of sudden infant death syndrome.

An inquest heard that exhaustive post-mortem tests could find no actual cause of death for Lewis Logan, who was found dead by his father Gary in May.

Assistant coroner Carolyn Singleton, recording a verdict of natural causes, said the experts were baffled by the phenomenon, but said that in years to come she hoped medical research could establish the cause so that something can be done to prevent it.

Lewis lived with his parents, Gary and Mandy Logan, and their four other children in Princess Gardens, Blackburn. He was born with his brother Joshua on December 16 and the inquest heard that of the twins Lewis was the stronger, more developed.

Gary Logan told the inquest how only the week previously Lewis had started sleeping in a cot, having outgrown his Moses basket. His twin brother was still in a Moses basket in his parents' bedroom. Lewis was put to bed in his cot in a bedroom he shared with two-year-old Bradley. The next day Mr Logan took their eldest daughter to school and when he returned Mandy was feeding Joshua. He said he went to get Lewis but found him under his quilt and when he picked the child up he was "floppy" and black on one side.

Mr Logan said he took the baby to his wife's bedroom and laid him on the bed.

Mrs Logan ran out of the house screaming and Mr Logan told how he went downstairs and collapsed in tears on the kitchen floor. "I just cracked up on the kitchen floor. I couldn't move," he said.

Mrs Logan ran to the nearby home of her mother-in-law, Lynda Logan, who raced back to Princess Gardens, telling her daughter Deborah to phone the ambulance. Minutes later Deborah arrived and grabbed Lewis, taking him back to her home in Park Place so the ambulance service operator could give resuscitation instructions. Paramedics arrived shortly after but could not resuscitate Lewis.

Dr Melanie Newbold, paediatric pathologist at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, said Lewis was a normally grown and well-nourished little boy. She said all internal and external examinations showed that everything was completely normal.

"I could not identify anything which might have led to his death," said Dr Newbold. "I feel that Lewis may well fall into the category of sudden infant death syndrome."