Drug Charge: Baby May Leave
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday January 26, 1987
BANGKOK, Sunday: The future of 14-month-old Todd Hudson will not be known until after his parents from Sydney appear in the Bangkok criminal court on Wednesday to face charges of attempted heroin trafficking.
Todd was being wheeled in a stroller along a Bangkok street last Thursday by his parents, Paul Hudson and Nola Blake, both aged 35, when police arrested them, allegedly with eight kilograms of heroin concealed in the baby's pillow
Both have denied the charges and say they will fight them in court. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.
They have told Australian Embassy officials that they will decide what to do with their baby son after considering the outcome of the court hearing. If the case appears to be going badly, they will probably send the boy to his grandmother in Sydney.
In the meantime, Todd is being cared for by an Australian Embassy official and his wife.
Police allege that Hudson and Blake paid $US49,000 to a Thai man for the heroin. The Thai has also been charged. Under Thai law the suspects can held in custody for up to three months before the trial begins.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald