WHAT a terrible, terrible tragedy that we report on Page 1 today.

The family concerned has already lost one young child to a cot death and is now coming to terms with losing a second - while knowing that their toddler might have inadvertently contributed to the death of their baby.

It is a clich, but our hearts really do go out to this family.

This dreadful story emerged from an inquest on Teesside yesterday. We are legally able to report the family's name and address; the family has also provided us with a picture of their baby.

However, we have decided not to print those details nor that picture. We do not want that 16-month-old toddler - who may have contributed to his baby brother's death by lying across him - to publicly bear the scars of this dreadful accident for the rest of his life.

Yet we do believe this story merits telling. It illustrates the horrors with which some people are burdened. Perhaps it helps the rest of us realise how fortunate we are.

In telling it, we do not wish to sound too pious. We do not wish to attach any blame to the family for what is clearly a dreadful accident. And we should not lose sight of the fact that it is not certain that the toddler contributed to the baby's death.

But the coroner did say: "I cannot exclude the possibility, given (the toddler) was bigger and may have been able to stop (the baby) breathing."

We believe that amid this terrible tragedy there is a potentially life-saving reminder. Everyone who has attended a pre-natal class is told by their midwife never to fall asleep in the same bed as their baby; never even to leave their baby unattended in the same room as a cat.

And, of course, everyone who has ever had a baby will know that as soon as they have dozed off, you leave them sleeping soundly. You settle down to enjoy the silence.

This terrible tragedy may prod us all into behaving slightly differently. The family, though, have nothing to reproach themselves about and all of our sympathies are with them.