A 76-year-old man has been remanded in custody charged with child cruelty offences after allegedly lacing sweets with sedatives.
John Ruben of Ruddington, Nottingham, appeared before magistrates in Leicestershire this morning after several youngsters fell ill at a summer camp.
He was charged with three counts of wilful ill treatment of a child. The charges relate to three different children who were at the camp which took place at Stathern Lodge near Melton.
The Lodge is owned by a Christian charity, Braithwaite Gospel Trust, but police said ‘the owners and operators of Stathern Lodge are independent from those people who use or hire the lodge and are not connected to the incident.’
Last Sunday police were called after a report that children at the camp had become unwell.
Emergency services attended the scene and eight children, who were all boys aged between eight and 11, were taken to hospital as a precaution.
An adult was also taken to hospital. All have since been discharged.