A PATHOLOGIST yesterday said the deaths of a young boy and his mother were the most tragic set of events he had seen in his 30-year career.

Pathologist John McElroy said the death of Robert Veitch and his mother Christine last December were ''incredible''.

The inquest heard how Robert slipped on a wet garden path after running across the road in new training shoes.

Moments earlier, the nine-year-old had delivered a Christmas present to his grandmother.

Mrs Veitch, who had a history of anxiety and panic attacks, fainted when she saw him lying injured, and she died in hospital four days later.

Robert died in Sunderland Royal Infirmary the day of the accident.

The inquest, in Sunderland Magistrates' Court, yesterday, heard that neither would have suffered any pain and that when a post-mortem examination was carried out on Robert, the only visible injury was a slight mark on his left cheek.

Mr McElroy told the inquest: ''It's just incredible.

''Lots of boys slip and bang their heads and this is just terribly tragic.

''I have never experienced anything like this in all my years of pathology.''

Mr McElroy agreed with Mr Veitch that the incident could be labelled a ''one-in-a-million fluke'' and added that the youngster would have been unconscious immediately.

He said of Mrs Veitch's injuries: ''Again it's incredible.

''She actually fainted through shock and in doing so her heart has stopped."

Since the double tragedy Mr Veitch, who was accompanied at the inquest by nine members of his family and friends has brought up their eight-year-old daughter Louise alone.

Sunderland Coroner Martin Shaw recorded a verdict of accidental death on Robert and natural causes on his mother.

He said: ''It's a terrible tragedy that's arisen out of such a simple accident.

''It really is a quite amazing fluke, almost beyond belief, that such a simple accident can have such drastic consequences.''

A joint funeral was held three days before Christmas Day when hundreds of mourners packed St Thomas's Church for the service.

The ashes of mother and son were scattered at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.