An extraordinarily cruel way to care for the vulnerable

Editorial: If the true measure of any society is in how it treats its most needy, the ease with which Britain ‘warehouses’ thousands of autistic people in permanent solitary confinement – as revealed today by The Independent – is nothing short of a national scandal

Nicholas Thornton has been held in a number of secure units and care homes for over a decade (Emma Thornton)

The story of Nicholas Thornton, as The Independent reveals today, is as distressing as it is instructive as to the state of Britain’s provision of mental health care.

This 28-year-old man has been in long-term segregation (LTS) – a kind of solitary confinement – under mental health legislation, since the age of 16. He is presently accommodated in a windowless room, which he cannot leave and where he spends 24 hours a day. Bedbound, he can only communicate via a keyboard.

Mr Thornton is autistic and has a learning disability. He has lived a life of dislocation, and his “treatment” has certainly not been effective. Shockingly, there are around 2,000 people locked away in similar long-term segregation, their individual needs seemingly disregarded. It is a scandal reminiscent of the worst days of the lunatic asylums before the Enlightenment.