Sudbury child handed battery disguised as sweet on Halloween

Abi Botterill, who lives in Ballingdon, Sudbury, said her six-year-old daughter Alice, as well as her sons and two of her nieces, went trick or treating on Thursday evening to celebrate Halloween.

The group visited areas that were well-known to them but, to Ms Botterill's surprise, upon returning home she realised that one of the wrapped sweets picked up by the children actually contained a Kodak zinc battery. 

Abi's niece Delilah, 5, and Alice, 6, in their Halloween costumes (Image: Abi Botterill) "We were around the Sudbury area near Aldi and Great Cornard, near the rugby club," she explained.

"I am unsure of where they picked it up but I always check through their sweets before. I was just shocked that someone would do that." 

Ms Botterill, who took to social media to raise awareness of the incident on Halloween night, said it has made her consider the safety of trick or treating.

The image Abi took of the battery inside the sweet wrapper (Image: Abi Botterill) "It does make us wary of trick or treating in future and a battery is extremely dangerous and definitely not a trick," she said. 

"We always go to these places because they are considered safe and have been for years.

"My children go to school in Cornard and we know everyone on the estate so we felt safe there," she added.

Last Halloween, two residents in the Sudbury area spoke out about their disappointment after their children's pumpkins were smashed. 

Niamh Hutchings, who lives in Applegate Mews in Great Cornard, and Katie Hudson, of Betty Cocker Grove, also in the village near Sudbury, had carved pumpkins with their children but they were both destroyed outside their homes.