Toddler Leo Clark drowned in the bath, just two days after his first birthday, an inquest heard.

Leo drowned in 18.5cms of water next to his older brother Jamie, as his mother Natasha went to fetch something from the kitchen. Miss Clark and paramedics both tried to ressucitate him but he died later the same day.

Assistant deputy coronor David Singleton, sitting at Trowbridge Coroners’ Court yesterday, returned a verdict of accidental death.

Miss Clark, who did not attend the inquest, had spent the day of July 16 last year at her ground floor flat, in Neeld Crescent, Chippen-ham, with Leo and his brother.

At around 6.30pm she ran a bath for her children, as was part of their daily routine. She put them in the tub and sat nearby to make a phone call to Leo’s father, Darren Scrivens.

In a statement read out to the inquest, Miss Clark said: “After finishing the phone call I went to get something out of the kitchen. I am not sure how long I was gone for but it couldn’t have been more than a minute.”

She came back to find every mother’s worst nightmare.

She said: “When I came back Leo was on his back under the water and not breathing.”

She took him out of the water and into her bedroom down the hallway.

She tried to call 999 but her mobile phone wouldn’t connect, so she rang her mother, who called for an ambulance.

Miss Clark tried to conduct CPR on Leo but couldn’t get him to start breathing again. Paramedics arrived and Leo was airlifted to Royal United Hospital, in Bath, but he couldn’t be saved and was declared dead at 9.42pm.

Police attended the scene and decided there were no suspicious circumstances.

Sergeant Simon Garrett, who attended with his colleage PC Melony Neal, said: “I went into the lounge, where Natasha was sat on the sofa. She was very upset and emotional about what had happened.

“From my time at the address there was nothing that made me believe there was anything suspicious about Leo’s death. It was just a tragic accident.”

The inquest heard Leo had a history of breathing problems and Miss Clark had been given inhalers to help him. He had also been airlifted to hospital just weeks before his death after a sustained periods of breathing problems. However, the exisiting issues were not deemed to be contributory to his death.

Returning a verdict of accidental death, Dr Singleton said: “The children were put in the bath at 6.30pm, prior to going to bed.

“Their mother gave evidence that she left the room for a minute or two and came back to see Leo on his back under the water and not breathing. On the balance of probabilities I believe the appropriate verdict is of accidental death.”