E baby's parents on bail
PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: A young couple appeared in Cairns Magistrates' Court this morning charged with grievous bodily harm after their baby almost died after swallowing a drug, believed to be ecstasy, in Cairns on the weekend.
The pair, from Victoria, declined to speak to waiting media after their brief court appearance and left the court house together in a waiting taxi.
Their baby was today in a serious but stable condition in Cairns Base Hospital after going into cardiac arrest and being placed in an induced coma on Sunday.
Police allege she ingested half an ecstasy pill, a street drug that can produce serious symptoms.
Her condition has since improved and she has been transferred from the intensive care unit to the pediatrics ward.
Paramedics rushed to a unit at Behan St, Manunda, about 10.30am on Sunday, about 90 minutes after the baby suffered a seizure.
Detectives from the Child Protection and Investigation Unit and Cairns CIB searched the unit and questioned the father, 24, and mother, 22, for several hours on Sunday.
The pair, from Victoria, were yesterday charged with grievous bodily harm and possession of a dangerous drug.
They have been released on watch-house bail and are believed to be keeping a bedside vigil at the hospital as their daughter recovers.
She is expected to make a full recovery.
The couple will appear in court this morning.
The baby remains in their care but the Department of Child Safety is investigating the matter.
Police are not alleging the couple deliberately administered the drug to the toddler.
Police said the couple and their daughter were holidaying in Cairns over the Christmas and New Year period.
But a resident at the unit complex said they had moved to the city and the father had recently taken up a job.
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