The prime minister’s spokesperson has called for the abuse of autistic children at the Whitefield School in north-east London to never happen again. CCTV footage obtained by the BBC showed children at the school being thrown to the ground, left alone and sitting in their own vomit. “You look at the children and they’re being defeated and responding to that treatment with self-injurious behaviour, it’s torture,” said safeguarding expert Elizabeth Swan. The children, who were left in padded rooms, included 40 with learning difficulties and severe mental disorders.
The Department for Education (DfE) is looking into strengthening guidance governing the use of seclusion in specialist schools. Current guidance allows schools to place disruptive students in seclusion or isolation rooms for limited periods and states that children should not remain in such settings any longer than necessary.
A police inquiry was launched at the Whitefield school after staff found a box of USB memory sticks containing 500 hours of CCTV footage, taken inside the padded room between 2014 and 2017. Six families of the children have agreed to the footage being shown. Elizabeth Swan called the footage “easily the worst footage” she had seen.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, MP for the area, said the footage should lead to “profound change”. The police investigation concluded with no charges being brought.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
