Mother finds drugs in her son’s Halloween bag

A mother in Ellesmere Port has found drugs in her five-year-old son’s Halloween treat bag. She is now warning parents in the area to check their children’s bags for drugs they may have been given while out trick or treating.

Sam Downes, from Little Sutton in Cheshire, described how her nine-year-old daughter discovered a blister pack in her younger brother’s collection of Halloween treats. Conner Downes had been sorting his sweets into separate piles while the family watched The X-Factor on Saturday evening.

Sam said: “My daughter saw the tablets in his bag. I went dead cold and felt sick. There was one missing. I was trying to speak to my son in a nice way asking if he had eaten one, but he said: ‘Mummy, I haven’t’. I phoned the police and they took them away to get it tested and I’m just waiting for the police officer to get back in touch.”

Sam had accompanied her son while he went trick or treating to celebrate Halloween. They visited several houses in the area, so Sam does not know which house the drugs came from.

Luckily Conner is already wise to medicine; when asked if he had taken any of the pills, he replied: “No mummy, that’s medicine. We don’t touch medicine.”

Police removed a tablet from the house and had it tested by a local pharmacist, who confirmed that it was a paracetamol tablet.

Inspector Brian Green has advised parents to be vigilant and to check what is given to their children.