social services failed a 13-month-old baby who died in a pool of vomit shortly after being fed a concoction of cheesecake, Weetabix, milk and ice-cream by her stepfather, a coroner said yesterday.

At the end of an inquest into the death of Sophie Casey, South Tyneside Coroner Terence Carney told legal representatives he was adjourning the hearing until next week before delivering a verdict.

The youngster died at her home in Frederick Street, South Shields, in December 1999, after the feeding incident which left her mouth, eyes and nose covered in vomit.

In response to legal submissions about possible verdicts available, Mr Carney said: "As far back as August there were obvious concerns raised about the care and the need for more intervention by social services for the appropriate level of care.

"On any view of the evidence, that was not discharged."

Mr Carney had already suggested that social service provision in the tragic case was not up to scratch, after vital information in case reports was erased.

The inquest, at Gates-head County Court, had heard how South Tyneside social worker David Potts failed to pass the case file to a colleague before going off work on sick leave.

Yesterday, the woman in charge of the social services unit, formed just months before the incident, told how she had urged Mr Potts' team leader, David Martin, to keep tabs on him because of his approach to his job.

Ann Scott, child protection co-ordinator, for South Tyneside's social services department, said she had concerns about Mr Potts during July and August 1999.

When questioned by Mr Carney about the handling of Sophie's case, she admitted that at some stage a case conference should have been arranged but never was.

Social workers had been alerted to the potential danger to the girl after she was taken to South Tyneside District Hospital with a fractured skull in August 1999.

But doctors were satisfied with her mother Emma's explanation that the injury was accidental.

On another occasion the youngster was treated at hospital for a decaying piece of sponge jammed in her nostril.

The case was handed to Mr Potts to assess and monitor, but five months later Sophie died.