Concerns for child photographed near Richmond safe injecting rooms

A Richmond resident was left horrified after she claims seeing a child watch on while his male minder prepared and used drugs.

She took photos of the alleged incident, which was just metres away from the area’s controversial safe injecting rooms.

“I was just horrified, frozen with horror,” Sonia told 3AW.

“The little child didn’t seem like he was bothered by it, it’s probably just his everyday.”

Sonia said it’s not the first time she had seen children accompanied by drug affected adults in the area.

“I’ve seen kids strapped in the back of the car with parents quickly stopping and buying drugs,” she said.

“You think, well they’re going to shoot up aren’t they?

“They’re going to use in the car, and then drive off drug affected.”

Sonia called for more support services for users of the injecting facility.

“The injecting room is there for doing their drugs, but these people need some support, and these kids do as well,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear more of what Sonia had to say about the disturbing sight she says she saw near the Richmond safe injecting facility.

3AW Mornings referred the matter to Victoria Police, who said they had not received a report about the incident.

Full statement from police

Victoria Police has not received a report about this incident.

In the instance police are made aware of a significant risk posed to a child, this matter is immediately reported to the Department of Health and Human Services and Child Protection for intervention.

Ensuring the safety of the community is a key priority for police, and we will continue to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the security arrangements are robust.

Victoria Police is not aware of an issue with children at the medically supervised injecting room. Anyone under the age of 18 is not permitted in the facility.

In the instance that a child was left unattended while the accompanying adult used the facility and Victoria Police were notified, we would intervene to ensure the safety of the child and report the matter to the Department of Health and Human Services and Child Protection.