A TODDLER who died three years after his mother gave him a huge overdose of paracetamol and codeine was unlawfully killed, a coroner ruled.

But the Crown Prosecution Service has decided that the mother will not face a murder or manslaughter charge.

In 2005, Raziya Patel, 30, of Accrington, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order after admitting cruelty to a child.

It is understood that CPS solicitors felt it would not be in the public interest to pursue further charges as the judge in the original case sentenced Ms Patel on the basis that Nazam would not live past the age of four.

After her son’s death aged three in March 2007, Ms Patel was arrested on suspicion of murder, an inquest was told yesterday.

The hearing was told that when interviewed by the police, Ms Patel made no comment.

In a written statement to officers, read out at the inquest, she said: “I was suffering post-natal depression and was not in control of my feelings or actions.”

Ms Patel gave him more than 30 times the adult doses of Calpol and codeine-based cough medicine in January 2004 when he was less than two months old, the inquest was told.

The baby survived the overdose, but was left with severe brain damage causing symptoms similar to cerebral palsy.

He was found dead by his foster mother. His weakened body meant he had been unable to fight pneumonia, the inquest was told.

Coroner Michael Singleton ruled that the toddler had been unlawfully killed.

Mr Singleton said: “The administering of the overdose was an unlawful act leading directly to the death of Nezam Patel.

“I have read police and CPS reports and I am in full agreement with the recommendation to take no further action.”

Following the overdose, the inquest heard little Nezam spend most of his first year of life in hospital, and was then cared for by foster mother Joyce Yates, of Clitheroe Road, Barrow.

His brain was less than a quarter of the size of a normal three-year-old’s. He could not sit unaided, speak or feed himself, the inquest was told.

Mrs Yates wept as paediatric pathologist Dr Melanie Newbould told the hearing that the chest infection would have “quickly overwhelmed” the little boy.

She said Mrs Yates, who had checked on him in the early hours to find that he was not breathing, could not have known before then that he was ill.

Dr Newbould said: “In children like Nezam, it is often the case that the infection comes on very quickly, and such a vulnerable child cannot withstand it like anyone else could.”

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Yates said: "Nezam was loved very much and is missed every day."

Detective Inspector Andy Hulme said: “This was an extremely long, protracted, and emotional inquiry. All agencies including the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and Children’s Services have worked tirelessly throughout this investigation.

“Mrs Yates did a remarkable job in caring for Nezam before his tragic death and our condolences go out to both her and the child's natural family.

“We are acutely aware of the sensitivity of this investigation and all agencies continue to offer comfort and support to all involved at this difficult time.”

Nezam’s father Murbarak Patel, a newsagent, was present at the hearing but made no comment.

In the original court case, Judge Anthony Russell QC had said Ms Patel’s decision to plead guilty was “brave and courageous” and said that she was “shamed and remorseful”. He also said there was a “great deal of good in her”.

He was told Ms Patel was suffering post-natal depression at the time of the overdose, was struggling to cope with running the family home she shared with her husband, children and grandparents.

Nezam, who was born seven weeks prematurely, had been “waking and crying every hour” before being drugged in January 2004, the court hearing was told.