No one accountable for baby's death

A Queensland coroner has ruled that no one can be held accountable for the suspicious death of a 14-week-old baby discovered blue and unresponsive on his parents' bed in Ipswich.

Vaughan Murray suffered five broken ribs and bruising on his right cheek and lungs — signs of the kind of haemorrhaging associated with asphyxiation, the Brisbane Times reports.

He was declared dead at a local hospital on September 23, 2009.

But exactly how the infant died has remained undetermined after a coronial inquest concluded on June 17.

Vaughan was the only child of two chronic drug users, aged 24 and 20, who provided "inconsistent versions" of what happened the night he died, coroner John Hutton said.

"What is consistent is the fact [the father] was the one who found Vaughan not breathing and he was with Vaughan in the period leading up to his being found not breathing," Coroner Hutton said.

An autopsy could not determine a definitive cause of death but did rule out sudden infant death syndrome because other findings, such as the rib fractures, indicated the baby had been held or squeezed in a "recent non-accidental injury".

Bruising on the right side of the baby's face was also recent at the time of death and raised "the possibility of smothering".

But both parents said they did not know how Vaughan's ribs had been fractured and denied ever squeezing or throwing their son.

The police investigation into the baby's death also found insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.