A mother last week paid a heart-wrenching tribute to her son who was killed by a drug overdose at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Jane Warren told the court during the inquest into the death of her 10-year-old son, he “could charm the birds out of the trees” before coroner Dr Andrew Harris ruled Fentanyl toxicity and overdose to be the cause of his death.

Thomas, who suffered from both cerebral palsy and scoliosis, was rushed to the hospital where he died in November 2008 following a reaction to the drug prescribed by Dr Lewis Ingram following extensive hip surgery.

In a statement parents Benjamin and Jane said: “Our family feel we have been robbed of a future with our son, Tom. If it hadn't been for the failures of Dr Ingram, the pharmacy and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, our son would still be at the heart of our family.

“It has been a long, gruelling process which seems to have afforded Dr Ingram protection all the way through with little consideration for our family.

“Our only hope is that the lessons learned as a result of our beloved son’s death prevent another family experiencing the pain we have.”

At the time Thomas, born 4 October 1998, was prescribed the fatal drug Mrs Warren witnessed Dr Ingram arguing with the pharmacist who protested prescribing the medication to the child.

Mrs Warren called 999 upon checking up on her sleeping son to find his lips had turned blue and he had stopped snoring.

The parents were then told their beloved son would not survive by hospital staff and the ventilator was subsequently turned off.

Dr Ingram was ruled unfit to attend the hearing by his psychiatrist in a report which concluded he was ‘capable of instructing his lawyer but lacked the capacity to attend the hearing as it may become stressful’.

Malcolm Fortune of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust issued a public apology to Mr and Mrs Warren of Park Drive, Greenwich for the tragic loss of their son.