A British couple have been detained by police after abandoning their children at their hotel in Spain to “go out to parties”. The two accepted suspended prison terms after pleading guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
The children were abandoned in the hotel room PHOTO iStock
The children were found alone at the Holiday World Resort in Benalmadena. It is about a six-month-old baby, a one-year-old and another four-year-old, according to the Daily Mail.
According to unconfirmed information, the youngest of the children would have tested positive for cocaine following tests carried out at a hospital in Malaga, before being taken into the child protection system.
Spanish police yesterday confirmed the arrest of a 41-year-old British man and a 28-year-old woman, but did not comment on the allegations of cocaine use.
Today it emerged that the two tourists, whose identity has not been made public, accepted sentences of almost a year and a half each, automatically suspended.
In addition, they were banned from seeing their children for two years.
A spokesman for the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia said: “Trial Court No. 3 of the Torremolinos Court of First Instance today sentenced two British parents arrested for abandoning their three children to one year and four months in prison for the crime of abandonment. In addition, the judgment provides that they are disqualified, for a period of two years and eight months, from exercising parental authority and that, for two years, they will not be allowed to approach less than 500 meters from children“.
“The children are currently in the care of the social services of the Andalusian Regional Government, which, in accordance with this decision, intends to contact the British consulate to organize the transfer of the three minors to their country of origin”the authorities also specified.
A spokesman for the National Police in Malaga confirmed yesterday after reports of the British couple's arrest in the early hours of Thursday morning after the children were found alone in their hotel room.
“A 41-year-old British man and a 28-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect. Their children, aged six months, just over a year and four years, were found alone in the hotel and taken to hospital”he said.
“In this case, a specialized unit of the National Police, UFAM, dedicated to supporting families and women, is involved, and the social services of the Junta de Andalucia have temporarily taken custody of the children”he added.
According to the authorities, the two spent a night in custody before being taken to court.
It was later learned that the family was staying at the Holiday World Resort, a large complex consisting of three hotels and a complex of premium apartments, totaling more than 850 rooms.
Regional government sources said before today's sentencing that emergency foster families had been found to care for the three children.
