Baby's day out

Storekeeper Alan Barbara could hardly believe his eyes when he saw a two-year-old sitting alone on a parking bay a few metres away from the one he was parking in.

"The boy's nappy was very dirty, so much so, it was about to come apart and he wasn't wearing any socks. He was also drenched by the rain. But he was healthy. He wasn't crying either, he was actually very friendly," Mr Barbara said yesterday.

He came across the boy on Wednesday morning on Andrew Cunningham Street in Qawra just near the Soreda Holiday Resort, the hotel where he works.

"I started asking him where he lives and he began climbing a flight of steps leading into a block of apartments whose front door was open. He was young and couldn't yet talk clearly so I decided to try my luck and have a look inside."

Wary of possibly aggressive parents, Mr Barbara asked colleague Frans Cassar, employed in the resort's maintenance department, to accompany him inside.

Walking through the building's front door, they immediately came across a discarded pair of socks that appeared to fit the boy and began knocking at each door. Yet, they received no answer.

"There were about eight doors and the boy was following us, knocking at the door we had just given up on, Mr Barbara said, laughing.

But after all their efforts turned out to be fruitless, Mr Barbara and Mr Cassar decided to accompany the boy to the police station.

There, he was washed by Constable Doris Muscat, who voluntarily bought him a change of clothes and nappies from a nearby shop.

Sources said the mother's partner turned up at the police station to collect the boy almost two hours later. He insisted the toddler had left the apartment without anyone realising he had done so.

But finding the man's story hard to believe, the boy was handed over to Inspector Louise Calleja from the Vice Squad, responsible for most social cases, among others.

She, in turn, summoned the boy's mother and partner to the squad's offices at the police headquarters.

Sources said Inspector Calleja established the boy's adventure was indeed an accident and ruled out any foul play.

The family, one parent Maltese and the other a foreigner, had recently moved into the apartment. The curious boy had walked out of the front door after finding the key in its lock shortly before he was found by Mr Barbara.

The police also established that an adult was actually present at the time and aren't pursuing the case any further.