A Belfast couple was arrested in Portugal and police told them: “We don’t want another Madeleine McCann,” referring to the missing child case from seven years ago.
Lee-Anne O'Donoghue and partner James Moreland were arrested after staff said they gave Calpol--the children’s medicine--to their children. They claimed it was illegal in Portugal.
Lee-Anne said police forced her to go to the hospital for a drug test. The baby was also stripped and checked for marks.
“When I went to get up they would put their hands on my forehead and fling me back to the ground,” she said, according to the Belfast Telegraph. “They had me in a room for an hour and I have no idea what they were doing to her,” referring to her 18-month-old child.
James said he was beaten and left with cuts after police refused to let him in the hospital. “I got angry so they got me down on the ground and were punching and kicking me,” he said.
His phone and wallet was confiscated, and they claim €745 was taken from his wallet.
Portuguese officials said the child ultimately wasn’t drugged.
“Eireann is such a good child and we just wanted to give her a great holiday, but it really was the holiday from hell,” she said.
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