Mother, boyfriend held after boy dies with Ice in veins
A woman and her boyfriend have been arrested for cruelty to a child after her five-year-old son died with the drug Ice in his veins.
The 35-year-old mother and her live-in boyfriend, 38, were picked up by police at her Fan Ling home at about 9am yesterday, almost three months after the death of her only child.
They are also accused of possessing a dangerous drug after a small quantity of a substance suspected to be Ice was found in the flat.
Police said the boy passed out while being fed milk early on March 23 and was declared dead in hospital about an hour later. Tests found he died of intoxication.
A post-mortem examination offered no clues about the reason for his death and further examinations such as a toxicology test were needed, an officer said. The toxicology test indicated that he had Ice in his blood.
"He died of intoxication," the officer said. "Further tests by pathologists and chemists are needed to find out how he came into contact with the drug."
The boy fell unconscious at the woman's home in Wah Min House, Wah Sum Estate, shortly after 4.15am on March 23 and was declared dead in Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po at 5.12am.
Police said both the boy's mother and her boyfriend were at home in the flat at the time of the incident.
Both are unemployed and both are understood to be drug abusers.
They were detained at Tai Po police station last night for questioning, but no charge had been laid as the went to press.
Police classified the case as cruelty to a child and possession of dangerous drug. The Tai Po district crime squad is investigating.
Latest figures from the Fight Crime Committee show customs and police officers seized 26kg of Ice in the first three months of this year, a 160 per cent rise from 10kg in the same period last year.
