Detaining Autistic Man was Illegal, Says Judge

A west London's council's decision to detain an autistic man for nearly a year and refuse to send him back to his father was illegal, a London judge revealed.

Steven Neary was taken by the Hillingdon Council who kept him in their "positive behavior unit" back in December 2009. The father, Mark Neary, thought that it was a temporary move and that his 21-year old son would be back by the end of next month. However he was told that the council were concerned over Steven's "challenging" behavior and said that they will be keeping him for a longer period.

Mark fought with the council for nearly an year and was unable to get his son back until December 2010. Justice Peter Jackson said that the council had no legal basis to keep the son away from his father, though he said that the council thought it was acting in the best interests of Steven.

"Anyone who believes that the work is simple and the right decision's always obvious is mistaken. In the vast majority of cases, it is carried out without fuss, fanfare or public congratulation, but that can be forgotten when attention understandably turns to cases where things have gone wrong", the judge added.

Source: Medindia