HARRISON Wright was an apparently healthy baby born after a problem-free pregnancy.

One night he went to sleep on his father's shoulder and never woke up. Five-week-old Harrison had become a victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

This is a particularly shocking way to lose a child. Parents' grief is exacerbated by guilt, confusion and fear. Guilt that perhaps they did something wrong, confusion because there is no medical explanation for their child's death, and fear that it could happen again.

Better known as cot death, the syndrome is not confined to the infant's bed, as this heartbreaking case underlines.

Harrison's parents Kerry and Paul want other families to know that babies are more at risk sleeping on their parents than in their cot.

The continuing mystery of cot death has led to some terrible mistakes. Today Donna Anthony was due to be cleared by the Court of Appeal of murdering her two young children. Like Angela Cannings, she was convicted on the flawed "expert" evidence of paediatrician Sir Roy Meadows.

In the absence of another explanation, he blamed the mothers, heaping injustice onto tragedy. Here is another example of the extreme medical arrogance which has caused other recent scandals, from Harold Shipman to organ harvesting.

To atone for the outrageous injustice inflicted on Mrs Cannings and others, the Government should increase research funding to find the real reasons why one baby falls victim to cot death every day.

Updated: 10:50 Monday, April 11, 2005