Parents have slammed the British police force for assaulting a young boy with autism. They are calling for police training in how to handle someone with the condition — or risk causing a severe or even fatal injury.
The call follows a High Court case involving the Metropolitan Police Force (the Met) being found guilty of assaulting a 16-year-old boy who has severe autism and epilepsy at a swimming pool. The boy, referred to only as ZH in the court, has been awarded £28,250 in damages.
The assault happened during a school trip in Acton, West London in 2008 after the boy jumped into the pool fully clothed. Police officers forcibly removed him, put him in handcuffs and leg restraints and placed him in a cage in a police van – without speaking to the young man’s carer.
Judge Sir Robert Nelson ruled that such treatment breached the boy’s human rights. He also ruled that the boy was subjected to disability discrimination and false imprisonment, and that the officers involved were guilty of assault, battery and multiple breaches of the Human Rights Act.
The parent-led Ambitious about Autism charity has added its own criticism of the police officers, saying they “clearly had no understanding of autism”. The organisation added: “Had they spoken to the young man’s carer they would have realised that applying restraint was the surest way of escalating the problem, not solving it.”
Police training in the UK does not routinely include instruction related to autism, according to the National Autistic Society. Gillian Loughran, editor of Autism Eye, said it was crucial that Britain’s police force instigate autism training or risk seriously injuring or even killing someone with the condition.
She pointed to the case of Stephen Watts, a 15-year-old boy with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism, who was shot dead in February by police officers in the USA. His parents called the police to the family home after the teen ‘tussled’ with his father following a dispute about attending school.
Outlining the National Autistic Society’s outrage at the London’s boy’s ordeal, Jane Vaughan, the organisation’s director of education, said: “The judgment confirms that in this case the police lacked the understanding and flexibility needed to adapt to a person’s autism and subjected a vulnerable young person to inhuman and degrading treatment.
“People with disabilities look to the police to protect them and it’s vital that their needs and behaviours are understood and accounted for.”
In a move that has shocked parents, the Met is appealing the judge’s decision and refusing to apologise to the boy’s family.
Tony Murphy, solicitor for the boy’s family, said the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police should respect the judgment of the High Court and apologise to the young man and his family.
Published: 15 March 2012
