Portuguese to decide baby's fate

The baby boy abandoned by his British mother near a Portuguese airport could remain in an orphanage for months while foreign courts decide his fate, it emerged today.

Sources believe three-month-old Charles's mother, 24-year-old Katherine Penny, will not dare visit him in Portugal for fear of arrest.

The Portuguese authorities treat child abandonment as a serious crime, punishable by up to eight years in jail.

A legal expert in Faro said: "There is no way that woman is going to risk coming back here to see her baby until she knows what may happen to her if the local police and courts get hold of her.

"Leaving a child is an offence which carries a harsh penalty, and she is just not going to want to risk it."

Until a decision is taken Charles will stay in Faro's Refugio Aboim Ascensao where orphanage director Dr Luis Villas-Boas said: "For his sake I hope a decision will be made soon. Sadly, though, it could be months, or even years, until they make a judgment. During that time we will look after him and give him the best care in the world."

Neighbours of Ms Penny and her British boyfriend Mark Beddoes, 26, said the couple were seen as "odd" in the resort of Albufeira, where they had lived since May.

One said: "They would take the baby out in all weathers and didn't seem worried that it might be cold.

"Charles's mother said she wasn't pregnant when we all knew she was. She would hardly eat anything."

The couple worked as timeshare reps in the resort's Clube Praia da Oura holiday complex. They lived in a campsite mobile home and were said to have money worries. One of Mr Beddoes' former colleagues said: "We wanted to help them out but we weren't sure what they might spend the money on. So we would give them things for the baby, such as clothes and so on."

A dog walker found the child in his pram near Faro airport on Sunday as Ms Penny and Mr Beddoes - who is said to have believed Charles was with a babysitter - flew back to Gatwick.

Mr Beddoes says he wants to return to retrieve the baby, but the judge handling the case today said: "As he was abandoned, it will be difficult to return the baby to its parents." Judge Manuel Marques added: "Relatives may apply for custody, but they would have to provide credentials."

Police in Faro said the baby needed medical treatment for a cleft palate but the couple had repeatedly skipped appointments.

Some observers believe the Portuguese authorities are increasingly unlikely to seek the couple's extradition believing police and social services in the Algarve are more likely to attempt to reunite the family without involving the courts.

Paul Luckman, an expert on Portuguese affairs and the editor of the country's English language newspaper, The News, said: "Portugal is a very gentle country. They will do everything to try and get the baby repatriated with his parents rather than press charges."