A Co Derry couple holidaying in Portugal who were due in court today after allegedly getting so drunk that they passed out while in charge of their three young children are believed to have left the country, the Foreign Office said.
The couple from Maghera, Northern Ireland, were due to attend a hearing at the Family and Minors Court in Faro this afternoon but failed to appear.
The Foreign Office said: "We understand that they have left Portugal and are en route to the UK. They are either en route or have already returned.
"There were no legal restrictions on them having to stay and there was no obligation for them to be in court."
Hotel staff in Vilamoura in the Algarve called police after the couple collapsed on Friday night. They were taken to a health centre in nearby Loule while their children, aged one, two and six, were temporarily taken into care at the Refugio Aboim Ascensao children's home in Faro.
The parents and their children arrived at the Aparthotel Mourabel in Vilamoura on Friday for a one-week holiday. On the same evening they had reportedly been drinking at a nearby bar with a happy hour where a pint of lager cost just one euro.
After going out for dinner at about 8pm, they returned to the hotel two hours later where the father passed out on the sofa in reception and could not be woken up. The hotel's manager said the mother was struggling with the pushchair.
He said: "We put her and the children inside the bar. She was sitting on a chair and fell asleep and never woke up.
"We tried to wake her, we tried to put some water on her face and head but she was very, very bad. She started to be sick every minute."
The mother has said she drank only three beers and reportedly requested details of hospital blood tests taken from her because she was "very surprised" at her reaction, a source close to the couple said.
The source said the reaction could have been because the couple were very tired after waking at 4am to travel to Portugal, and they had been affected by the heat.
PA