A BABY girl miraculously survived when a car smashed into her buggy, only to die two days later when her drunken dad cradled her to sleep following a 15 pint binge.

Two-week-old Ellie Walls became trapped down the side of a leather armchair after falling from the arms of her father, Terry Riley.

Two days previously doctors had been amazed that Ellie survived unscathed when she was flung from her buggy in the accident close to her parents' home.

A coroner said the accident played no part in her death but her parents had grossly failed to provide her with "adequate basic care" following their drinking session.

An inquest heard how Mr Riley had drunk 15 pints in a 12 hour session with Ellie's mum Melanie Walls.

He was woken the following morning by Miss Walls, who had discovered the unconscious child at their home in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear.

Miss Walls, who has three other children, attempted to resuscitate Ellie, but she was pronounced dead at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The Sunderland inquest was told the day before her death Ellie and her older sister Shay, who was about 17-months-old at the time, were dropped off at their grandmother's around 3.30pm by their mother in July 2005.

Miss Walls then went to the Glendale Club to meet up with Mr Riley who had been there since shortly before noon.

The pair stayed out drinking both at the club and the Robbie Burns pub until about 11.45pm when they walked to Mr Riley's mother's house to pick up the babies before going home.

Miss Walls, who said she had consumed about ten halves of lager, told the inquest she took Shay upstairs to bed and came back to lie on the settee and Ellie was in her moses basket.

Ellie began crying and both parents can remember Mr Riley picking her out of the crib and sitting with her in the chair, but they both fell asleep.

The next thing they knew it was morning and Miss Walls awoke to find Mr Riley asleep in the chair with Shay cuddled into him.

She said: "Shay was on Terry's lap, but I couldn't see Ellie. I looked in the Moses basket and went upstairs to look."

Miss Walls, who is also mum to Kevin, 9, and Kaitlin, 5, who were staying with relatives at the time of the tragedy, said she then discovered the newborn Ellie trapped face down between Mr Riley's leg and the arm of the chair.

Asked about his night out, Mr Riley, who no longer lives with Miss Walls, but in said: "I think I was a bit drunk, but not too drunk."

He said he picked Ellie out of the crib and settled her down, but then fell asleep and he had no idea how Shay came to be on his lap when the family awoke the following morning.

Just two days before her death Ellie had miraculously escaped uninjured after a car mounted the pavement, struck her buggy and flung her to the floor.

On the day of the crash Ellie was being looked after by her mother's cousin Sharon Smith while her parents attended a wedding.

Norman Turton, who lives opposite the babysitter, was reversing his Vauxhall Astra estate into the street.

He said his car was glanced by a Fiat Punto, driven by a young woman, who then lost control and hit the buggy and knocked it over.

Painter and decorator, Mr Turton, 65, said at the time that the Punto then demolished a garden fence and damaged the Mini Cooper that was parked inside.

Pathologist Dr Christopher Wright told the inquest there was no definitive pathological findings for the cause of death, but Ellie was typically too young to be a victim of cot death and he couldn't rule out asphyxia by overlay, which is where an infant suffocates while co-sleeping with a parent.

Coroner Derek Winter said: "I am satisfied that the road traffic accident had nothing at all to do with her death.

"It is clear to me that Ellie became trapped between her father's body and the arm of the chair and she couldn't move.

"Ellie was in a vulnerable position. She was entirely dependent on the adults in her life.

"In my view there was a gross failure to provide her with adequate basic care to provide her with a safe environment.

"That failure was substantial and in my view has contributed to her death."

He said there was never any intention on the part of her parents to do Ellie any harm.

Mr Winter said in his view Ellie's death was caused by overlay and he would be recording a verdict of accidental death aggravated by neglect.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said an investigation had been carried out into Ellie's death, but there would be no criminal action.