  We find the leakage current through a double quantum dot in the Pauli spin
blockade regime accounting for inelastic (spin-flip) cotunneling processes.
Taking the energy-dependence of this spin-flip mechanism into account allows
for an accurate description of the current as a function of applied magnetic
fields, gate voltages, and an inter-dot tunnel coupling. In the presence of an
additional local dephasing process or nonuniform magnetic field, we obtain a
simple closed-form analytical expression for the leakage current giving the
full dependence on an applied magnetic field and energy detuning. This work is
important for understanding the nature of leakage, especially in systems where
other spin-flip mechanisms (due, e.g., to hyperfine coupling to nuclear spins
or spin-orbit coupling) are weak, including silicon and carbon-nanotube or
graphene quantum dots.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics