THE Huddersfield father of the baby boy dumped in Portugal is unlikely to get him back, it was said today.

Mark Beddoes, 29, a former Shelley High School pupil who grew up in Upper Denby, says he did not know his girlfriend, Katherine Penny, had abandoned the three-month-old child near Faro Airport.

The baby was dumped before the couple flew back to Britain this month.

Now, a chief at the orphanage where little Charles is being cared for said Mr Beddoes and Miss Penny, 24, did not deserve to bring up their son.

Dr Luis Villas-Doas spoke up after the first public comments by Miss Penny.

"I made a terrible mistake," she is reported to have said.

"All I want now is to have my little Charlie back. I want to bring him to England."

It is the first time Miss Penny has spoken about the case.

The couple had been living in the Algarve resort of Albufeira and worked in the timeshare industry.

Mr Beddoes voluntarily went to a police station in Bournemouth, where the couple are now living, and says he will co-operate with any investigation.

Dr Villas-Doas, speaking from the Refugio Aboem Afcencao orphanage in Faro, said: "It is a matter for the court in Faro to decide what happens to Charles.

"But I would find it very unlikely that the judge will allow Katherine Penny and Mark Beddoes to have their baby back.

"The way they left him there when they went back to England was not a very good way to show they can care for their baby. I would not like to give him back to them. It would not feel right."

Charles is making good progress and is due to undergo surgery on a cleft palate soon.

Portuguese officials are due to decide whether Mr Beddoes and Miss Penny should be extradited to face charges of abandonment, which carries a maximum penalty of eight years in jail.

Miss Penny's parents in Basingstoke have begun legal moves to become Charles's guardians. They already care for Miss Penny's daughter Ellie, four.