‘My son begged me to get him out after 11 years’
THE MOTHER of Eden Norris, 26, who has been detained for 11 years, is campaigning for his release from a psychiatric treatment centre by Christmas.
Debbie, 48, said her autistic son had begged her to “get me out” of the unnamed private hospital in Norfolk.
She claims Eden has at times been kept locked in a room, regularly given powerful sedating drugs and fed through a hatch.
Eden, who also has learning disabilities, was removed by social workers from his home in Shepherds Bush, west London, at 15 after an episode of challenging behaviour in which he lost control and slapped his mother. Ms Norris, who lives with her partner Perry, 60, a black cab driver, said she had asked social services for support at home, which resulted in his assessment and later incarceration.
The mother-of-four said: “He’s never harmed anyone. We just needed assistance with coping strategies. Instead he’s been gone from home for more than a decade often with criminally insane murderers and rapists.
“Before he was even 18 he was mixing with adults to which child offenders in prison wouldn’t be exposed.
“At times he was locked in a dark cell-like room and fed through a hatch like animal.” Ms Norris, who is disabled and does not work, said she had post traumatic stress disorder as a result of what has happened to her son.
She and Perry fear his weight gain – he is 6ft and 25 stone – could lead to him suffering health problems or a potentially fatal blood clot.
Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, said he visited Eden last year and was “shocked” by his detention.
He said: “I’m shocked nothing has changed for Eden in all this time.
“I am disturbed that the people who run these private hospitals seem to be in control and there is nothing anyone can do about it.”