A POWERFUL warning has gone out to parents to make sure they warn their children off sniffing solvents after an inquest heard seven-year-old York boy, Christopher Smith, died after deliberately inhaling 'special cement'.

York coroner Donald Coverdale made clear there was no blame attached to Christopher's family, and nothing to indicate the little boy had ever experimented with solvents before.

But in a passionate plea to other parents to take note, he said at yesterday's inquest: "This is something of a landmark of tragedies with such a young victim. Christopher Smith is one of the youngest, if not the youngest child to have died from inhalation of volatile substances.

"But it is a fact that most victims of such inhalation, I'm afraid, tend to be young. I hope that this case may bring home to everybody the intense dangers of abuse. Experimentation can be the first attempt, and it can lead to complete tragedy."

In a warning to firms using industrial glues like the 'Tip Top Special Cement' tyre glue which killed Christopher, which the little boy may have found dumped in a skip, he added: "If anybody is using substances like this, great care should be taken to see that it is disposed of properly."

The inquest at York County Court heard that Christopher, who lived on the James Street caravan site with his grandparents Susan and Jack Smith, had gone out to play with a 10-year-old friend on the afternoon of August 2, last year.

A search began when he did not come home for supper. His friend was found, but the search for Christopher, known by his nickname Mushman, continued.

A clearly upset Mrs Smith told the inquest she began to check the cabs of lorries parked on the site. She checked two without success, but when she peered into the cab of a pick-up truck she saw him lying inside.

She said: "The door was half open. He was lying on his tummy. I began to pull him out gently, then I was squealing for his dad."

She said she noticed a strong smell in the cab. "It smelled like glue to me."

Christopher's father Christopher senior, who also lives on the site, took the unconscious boy in his arms and with a friend rushed him to York District Hospital.

He said: "During .. the journey, Chris was in my arms. He was not moving or breathing."

In a statement read out at the inquest, he said a doctor examined him but he was 'too far gone'.

He added as far as he knew, Christopher had never experimented with solvents before.

He said in his statement: "He had never given me any problems about glue or anything like that. He had always appeared sensible about things like that."

The inquest heard a neighbour who subsequently searched the cab found the cap to a tin of glue, with a brush covered in the 'special cement'.

There was also glue splashed on the cab seat and a bottle outside.

Consultant pathologist Dr John Clark said Christopher had died from a heart attack after inhaling trichloroethylene.

There was glue on his face and hair, and a burn on his face where it had come into contact with the vinyl of the cab seat and the glue had caused a chemical reaction.

Dr Clark said levels of the chemical in Christopher's blood were 'quite high' - too high for him to have been overcome with fumes while simply playing with the glue.

He said: "Clearly, he has inhaled these fumes. I would imagine he has directly sniffed it."

Mr Coverdale recorded a verdict of accidental death.

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