A 14-month-old baby girl is recovering in hospital after being forcibly removed last night from her drunken Irish parents on holiday in a hotel in Albufeira.
Details are scarce but according to SIC notícias witnesses sounded the alarm after seeing the child’s mother staggering with the baby in her arms on an 8th floor veranda of Hotel Paraíso.
The mother is reported to have been so drunk that she was “hitting the walls” as she swayed.
The child was then reported to have been removed from the hotel swimming pool with scratches to her legs and appearing to have been ‘sedated’, said SIC.
Witness complaints brought the GNR to Hotel Paraíso at around 8.30pm last night, and the child was swiftly removed and taken to Faro Hospital.
The parents have not been detained, continued the SIC report, but the Public Ministry has been informed of their alleged negligent treatment and the case has been referred to the Faro Children’s Court.
A spokesman for Faro Hospital told us late this afternoon that the child was fine, with no health problems.
Her parents were with her and wanted to take her home with them, said the spokesman, but the decision now remains with the court.
If the court decides the little girl is in danger, she would be referred to the Refúgio Aboim Ascenção – but this may not happen, said the spokesman as these situations are “relatively common” with visiting holidaymakers and the courts “usually decide” to return the children to the care of their parents.
Refúgio director Luís Villas-Boas intimated the same.
“The problem is that there aren’t enough laws to prevent this kind of situations,” he told our reporter Michael Bruxo. “Parents who commit these kinds of acts should be severely punished.”
Read latest update HERE
Home Portugal News UPDATE: 14-month-old baby “removed” from Irish holidaymakers suspected of negligence
