The mother of a three-month-old baby who died in a co-sleeping accident told conflicting stories to the police following the tragic incident, a court has heard.

Ava Messenger died in December 2021, a week after her 100th day, after being found unresponsive in the bed she was sharing with her mother.

An inquest into her death held in Norwich heard how Mary Messenger, her mother, told police conflicting versions of what had happened following Ava's tragic death.

The court heard that Miss Messenger, of Bury St Edmunds, had travelled to stay at her mother's house in Brandon on December 17, taking baby Ava with her.

That evening Ava was put to sleep in a carry cot, before Miss Messenger, her mother and stepfather began drinking together.

In a report read to the court, DS Lisa Allen said Miss Messenger drank six alcoholic shots and two Malibu and Cokes before sitting up most of the night chatting - going to bed around sunrise.

But the next morning, at around 10am, Miss Messenger's mother went into the room to find her daughter asleep under the covers.

After pulling the duvet back, she made the heartbreaking discovery of an unresponsive Ava.

The family performed CPR on the baby and alerted emergency services, but Ava was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury, where she was pronounced dead.

Initially, Miss Messenger told police she had raised the alarm after her daughter "went floppy" following a feed at around 8.30am.

At a second interview though - held on baby Ava's first birthday - she did tell officers the pair had been co-sleeping.

A post-mortem examination found that Ava's cause of death was consistent with a co-sleeping environment - concluding it could have been either caused by bedding or partial overlay.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, gave a narrative conclusion that Ava had died following co-sleeping.