Baby died after doctors gave him massive drug overdose

A baby died after he was accidentally prescribed up to 12 times the daily dose of an anti-epileptic drug in hospital.

Seven-month-old Lucas Stachursky was given the overdose at Homerton Hospital in Hackney, where he was admitted with seizures and vomiting.

An inquest heard that Lucas died last May as a result of an accidental overdose, of which neglect was a contributing factor. The hospital's medical director, Dr John Coakley, apologised for the "catastrophic error".

But he warned that a "gap in the system" could lead to another such tragedy, with a lack of assessment meaning that experienced doctors might not be "competent to prescribe".

The medical staff involved, including a consultant paediatrician, a specialist registrar and a senior house officer, have been suspended from prescribing and may face further disciplinary action. At the inquest, Dr Andrew Reid, coroner for St Pancras and Poplar, said that the doctors' neglect contributed to the death.

Lucas's father Benjamin Stachursky, 33, said: "You just can't believe the amount of errors, the magnitude of errors and breaches of duty that were committed during the 24 hours we stayed at the Homerton."

The baby's mother, Anna Holzscheiter, also 33, is pregnant with her second child. The couple have returned home to Germany because, Ms Holzscheiter says, she does not trust the NHS. She told Channel 4 news "no one was familiar with prescribing or administering" the drug, phenytoin, to children.