A British couple whose three children were taken into protective custody while they were on holiday in Portugal denied yesterday that they had been drinking excessively.

Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin insisted that they were responsible parents and had not been on an alcoholic binge in the Algarve resort of Vilamoura before allegedly collapsing at their hotel.

“We live and breathe for our children and would never, ever place them in any kind of danger,” the couple from Maghera, Co Londonderry, said in a postscript to a family statement that set out their side of the story.

The couple’s three children had been taken into temporary protective custody last Friday after the emergency services were unable to wake the parents and took them to hospital for emergency treatment.

Mr McGuckin, a bank executive, was alleged to have collapsed on a hotel sofa while Mrs McGuckin is said to have staggered into the bar with her children before passing out.

The couple were due to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon to be questioned about the incident, but flew to Britain in the morning. The judge said that she would pass police evidence to the British authorities to ensure the children were safe.

The couple said in their statement yesterday that, contrary to reports, their first drink on Friday, when they arrived at their hotel, was with their evening meal and that the amount of alcohol they consumed with their meal would “not have been sufficient to render them incapable of being responsible parents”.

Mr McGuckin, 34, and his wife, 32, denied the reports by Portuguese police, the head of a children’s refuge and their hotel manager that they had passed out drunk at 10pm on Friday.

Police took their children — Adam, 1, Amy, 2, and Aaron, 6 — to a children’s refuge overnight for their own protection.

The statement said the family had left their apartment at 7pm and went to the play park where they stayed until 7.30pm before going to the restaurant. It said the couple had their first alcoholic drink of the day here and later they moved to the communal area where they played pool with other guests from the resort.

The statement continued: “They returned to the hotel before 10pm. Antoinette became violently ill on arrival at the foyer of the hotel and required assistance from the management.

“Eamon arranged with the hotel management to care for the children whilst he would accompany Antoinette to the hospital. Hotel management agreed.

“The parents left with the para- medics in the belief that once Antoinette’s condition was established and treated, they would return to the hotel to their children.”

An official report from Loule Health Centre confirmed that Eamon had been “conscious, orientated and helpful with staff” while his wife was unconscious, the statement said. It added that the British Consulate had been asked by the McGuckins to request a full report from the health centre, which showed that tests had been carried out for pulse, blood pressure and blood-sugar levels.

Mr and Mrs McGuckin returned to their hotel at 5am but were made to wait six hours to collect their children.

The family said that they had been assured by police on Saturday that the matter was closed and they spent Sunday morning at the beach before returning to their hotel to find journalists waiting for them.

“The family hurriedly left reception to return to their room to protect their children from the media,” the statement said. “The next time they were to leave would be in the early hours of Tuesday morning to return home.”

On Monday evening Portuguese police told the couple to attend the Family and Children’s Court at 3pm the following day for a hearing into the care of their children.

“It was clearly stated that it was not obligatory to attend although they were strongly recommending a presence whether it was one or other of the parents,” the statement said.

A Portuguese lawyer and judge advised them to take a flight home as it would not break any law. They took the 10am flight to Belfast on Tuesday.

Adding to the statement, the McGuckins said that they hoped to be able to put the incident behind them. “We are deeply saddened and hurt by the events of the past days. We hope that this traumatic experience is now closed as we want to get back to our normal routine of loving our beautiful children and getting on with life.”

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