Autistic teen ‘locked up’ in Dickensian condition

The family of a teenager with autism and a learning disability who was “locked away” for more than a year have said his experience of being detained “felt like being in an asylum from a Dickens novel”.

Matthew Garnett, 18, whose conditions include extreme generalised anxiety, recently spent 15 months under section in a mental health inpatient unit until his family successfully fought for his release.

Mother Isabel said: “Matthew thought he was in pris- on and to us, it felt like he was being punished for being autistic.”

Almost 2,300 children and adults with a learning disability are in the same position as Mr Garnett, who is from Dulwich in south-east London.

The UK government set a target in 2015 to move between 35 and 50 per cent of people with a learning disability and/or autism out into communitybased support by the end of this month.

However, around 600 more people are living in such institutions, the NHS data has revealed.