A mother was horrified to find a suspected bag of ecstasy tablets among her children’s trick or treat sweets.
Amy Dixon is today warning other parents to urgently check their offspring’s left-over treats after her five-year-old daughter came close to swallowing the suspicious pills.
The mother-of-four discovered a padded envelope containing pink tablets among the haul her children had collected while trick or treating near their home in Shiremoor, North Tyneside.
As she tipped the pills onto the kitchen counter she had to stop an excited Lexi-Mai from grabbing them and putting them in her mouth.
Ms. Dixon took the suspicious package straight to her nearest police station, where officers told her they believed the pills to be ecstasy, a dangerous Class A drug.
The 34-year-old said: ‘I have always taught my kids to share, but what would have happened if they had shared these?
‘I could have had four little bodies in intensive care, or even in body bags. Every single possible situation has gone through my mind. It’s so lucky I found them when I did.
‘Luckily everyone is alright, but I would just urge all parents to check their sweets if not somebody is going to get seriously hurt.’
Her partner, Mark Richardson, took children Craig 13, Callum, 10, Lexi-Mai, five and Lucy-Rae, two, out last night, while she stayed at home making food for when they returned.
After visiting a number of neighbors in the streets near their home the youngsters came back with a huge haul of sweets.
Sweet-toothed Lexi-Mai asked her mother if she could open her bags of sweets straight away and the mother agreed.
‘She ripped them open and there was candy everywhere,’ Miss Dixon said.
The mother, who works as a self-employed cleaner, went to get her vacuum cleaner.
And as she was attempting to tidy up she noticed a package that stood out among the bags of sweets.
‘I just noticed what looked like a Jiffy bag,’ she said. ‘I picked it up and I just thought; ‘Who puts sweets in a Jiffy bag.’
Miss Dixon tipped the contents of the bag on to the kitchen counter to take a closer look, but as she did so Lexi-Mai tried to grab at the sweets.
‘I was screaming hysterically at her,’ she said. ‘Then my partner said; ‘hang on, they don’t look like sweets’.’
The terrified mother then begged Lexi-Mai to tell her whether she had eaten anything from the bag. ‘By this time my heart was racing,’ she said.
Miss Dixon showed the pills to a neighbor who was outside, who said he thought they were ecstasy.
Still dressed in her Halloween skeleton onesie, she drove straight to Middle Engine Lane Police Station, in Wallsend.
But before getting out the car the worried mother filmed a Facebook live video in a bid to warn other parents.
‘I just wanted to let people know,’ she said.
Miss Dixon handed the pills over to an officer, who went away to show them to his sergeant.
‘He then put some gloves on and said, ‘We do believe it’s a tablet called ecstasy,’ remembered Miss Dixon.
The pills were put in an evidence bag, and the mother gave officers a list of streets where her children had been tricked or treating.
‘Whether this has been done deliberately or been a mistake I don’t know,’ she added. ‘I didn’t sleep at all last night.’
Police are now investigating where the tablets came from and urging anyone that has come across anything similar to get in touch.
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: ‘We are investigating a report from a parent that unknown pink tablets were placed in her daughter’s trick or treat bucket in Shiremoor last night.
‘Enquiries to establish if the tablets are harmful are ongoing but any reports of this nature are extremely concerning and will be taken seriously by police.’
If anyone received a similar tablet or has information which could assist officers, then the police would ask you call 101 quoting reference 1073 31/10/18.
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