Published on 12, July, 2020
Our son Aran was moved to a secure unit from a closed secure unit today. We had 20 minutes notice of this. We manged to get a lawyer to revoke our section 25 but it had been superseeded. He was violent i n the closed unit as he has ASD ADD and wanted to come home. If he was a prisoner of war he would get medals for bravery but I do not condone violence. It showed me his spirit was unbroken. My husband and I have a family lawyer but because we did not know he was being moved today and found out only accidently by phoning the unit to talk to Aran- we were 50 minutes too late in revoking our section 25 and we could have taken Aran home. He is now locked away. We agreed to the close secure unit for assessment purposes only. We had no idea they would/could do this. We need a lawyer in Glasgow for our son. A hearing is on Tuesday. We have not even the paperwork to prepare. We are a loving family with no criminal background, in fact I was a SEN teacher and my husband is a professor at university. Our son has been transitioned without story boards, without us being allowed to encourage him, without his consent or understanding. We need to hire a lawyer. Aran wants to come home and we want him home. We have no experience of the law and need to move fast on this. We have 3 other children who are devestated. Aran did not know the consequence of his violent behaviour. We were to take him home tomorrow and the last two days saw a peaceful interactive boy who came out of his bedroom. He had withdrawn himself into his room for most of the day. Staying in bed. A child in deep despair. We are in a crisis of a nightmare level. So any one that can help direct us to the best child lawyer in Scotland please
NAS49619 said:Our son Aran was moved to a secure unit from a closed secure unit today.
I was wondering, what exactly is the difference between a secure unit. And a closed secure unit?
Is it visiting rights by family ?
Being able to go outside a building to get fresh out?
Being able to mix with other inmates?
Being locked in a room for long periods?
???
Hi there Robert. Closed unit allows the youngsters into the community. They can access the outside world under supervision. Secure is the same as adult jail in terms of no access to the outside world. I am allowed 2 visits a week with as much telephone contact that is reasonable.. No other family or friends are allowed ( during assessment- in which no one tells me what and how this assessment is and how they carry it out) There is an outside court and a outside football turf. There are no goals in place for the boys to play football yet. Yes, each unit has 6 beds. There is a sititng room where they come together. Every movement is supervised. Movement is limited and has to be with an adult. Aran goes to bed at 9 and is locked in till 8 am. There is a buzzer if he needs assistance. He can have water but it appears if he is hungry during the night - its tough. Aran has retreated to his room for long spells. e.g the other day he went to bed at 9 pm and did not eat or get up till 3 pm the following day. He was encouraged to get up but he just lay in his bed. This is so awful to see as Aran was a keen monro climber and loved being active. I hope it gave you an ideal. My biggest concertn right now is Aran's lack of freedom of thought. I think I may have mentioned it somewhere above- how he was removed from the sitting room for after expressing that he wanted to go home and was been held prisoner. Aran was removed from the older teenagers for this. He was told he was not allowed to say that in front of the others and that if he wanted to say he was a prisoner he had to tell an adult but never in front of another youngster. NOW, I take issue. Above all else, this is a land of free speech and if expressed in a non offensive way then it is healthy and encouraged. It could have been a good opportunity for a calm discussion to take place and points of view taken. Aran might have heard that it gets better to wait, he might have heard the opposite where a youngster feels it is terrible to have no freedom- but it is important for each child to own their thoughts and learn how to share such respectfully with eachother. Aran had not sworn or said it aggressively. So make your own mind up...….I want my son to feel free to speak- always politely and with others in mind.
I just wondered how things are with Aran. I've been thinking about you, as I'm sure others here have.
Please don't feel that you need to reply to this message unless you have time to.
It is good to know that you have been able to see Aran. Many of us understand all too well what you have being going through.
I came across this report yesterday which highlights how inappropriate it is to put ASD children and young people into settings resembling prisons:
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CCO-review-of-evidence-on-the-subjective-wellbeing-of-children-in-detention-in-England-2.pdf
I hope that you will soon be together again as a family so you can all start to recover from this dreadful experience.
Be proud of your warrior spirit, and of Aran.