Toddler dies from drinking methadone

A two-year-old boy died after drinking methadone at his home in Scotland.

Detectives are investigating the death of Derek Alexander Doran who was found in bed by his mother, Lisa Dodds, 25, at their home in Elphinstone, East Lothian. It is unclear how the toddler got hold of the liquid heroin substitute. But police sources say his mother and father, Derek Doran, 22, who have both been questioned by detectives, are methadone users.

The news comes only five weeks after it emerged that an 11-year-old girl had been treated in hospital for the effects of heroin use after collapsing at school in Glasgow.

Derek Alexander was taken to Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children on 13 December but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lothian and Borders Police said they received the results of a toxicology report last week which confirmed he had died from a methadone overdose. It is understood that he was buried on 13 January.