Poisoned sisters awake as parents face charges: [1 All-round Country Edition]
John Stapleton, Annabelle McDonald. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 Mar 2005: 3.
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Parramatta Bail Court was told the family came to Australia in August "for the purpose of avoiding a court matter in Singapore"and were on 12-month visas. Police prosecutor Keren Bayley said the pair intended to kill the children, aged six and seven, then commit suicide.
"His intentions and his wife's intentions were that they would then suicide," Sergeant Bayley said.
They also found more than 400 purple capsules believed to have contained the drug Dozile, an antihistamine used to treat sleeplessness and coughing. The parents, who are in custody, will appear today at Central Local Court.
TWO young girls allegedly poisoned by their parents in a suicide pact on Friday, each ingesting about 120 sleeping tablets, woke from their comas yesterday and were talking.
Their father, 35, and mother, 36, from Singapore, faced court on Saturday charged with two counts each of administering poison with intent to murder.
Parramatta Bail Court was told the family came to Australia in August "for the purpose of avoiding a court matter in Singapore"and were on 12-month visas. Police prosecutor Keren Bayley said the pair intended to kill the children, aged six and seven, then commit suicide.
"His intentions and his wife's intentions were that they would then suicide," Sergeant Bayley said.
Police said they had searched the family's home and found the parents' wills and photographs of each family member on a table.
They also found more than 400 purple capsules believed to have contained the drug Dozile, an antihistamine used to treat sleeplessness and coughing. The parents, who are in custody, will appear today at Central Local Court.
Police have alleged the couple panicked when one of the girls suffered seizures and they flagged down a passing car near their home. The car took them to Royal North Shore Hospital. Doctors alerted the police, who subsequently arrested the parents.
Court registrar Brian Fenn refused the mother bail and said his main concern was for the protection of the children. The father did not apply for bail.
Initially there were fears that the children might not survive.
However a spokeswoman for the Children's Hospital at Westmead said yesterday the girls had been taken off life-support systems.
"They are off life support, they are awake and talking," she said. "There has been no brain damage." She said they had been moved from intensive care into a room with their beds side by side.
NSW Department of Community Services assumed care of the children on Friday. DOCS officers will appear in the St James Children's Court today to establish longer-term care arrangements. The names of the children have not been released.
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