INTERNATIONAL: A mother and her partner have been arrested in Greece over the killing of her seven-year-old son, whose remains were kept in a toolbox for years, according to police.

The 29 year old mother and her 33 year old partner have appeared before a magistrate on Tuesday, February 15 and were remanded in custody on charges of manslaughter for the death, which took place in 2017.

The killing of the boy, who police has described, died by suffocation after his mouth and nose were sealed with insulation tape, is one of the most shocking cases of child abuse to surface in Greece in recent years.

Police has said the man, who was not the boy's biological father, put insulation tape over the boy's mouth and nose because he was crying. The boy's body was cemented into a wall on the roof patio of the apartment building where the couple lived at the time of the killing. When the couple moved, the bones were placed in a toolbox, which was stored under a couch on the balcony of their current apartment. Police, who had been investigating the boy's disappearance, found the toolbox on the balcony with the remains inside on Saturday ,February 12.

"He has claimed he did not have the intent to kill," said the man's lawyer, Alexis Filios, outside the courthouse."He claims the child did not die from the blocking, from asphyxiation, but perhaps some other pathological reason they did not know."

Filios has told reporters the man cried during his testimony and told the court that the mother took no part in the acts against the boy.