Autistic man held in secure unit for 21 years can go home at last

AN AUTISTIC man who has been held in a secure hospital for more than 20 years has been told he can return home.

Tony Hickmott, 45, was sectioned after a mental health crisis in 2001. Yet despite a long legal battle by his family to have him released, he has remained in the secure unit for 21 years.

Last year, a judge criticised his detention, telling authorities to find him a home near his elderly parents’ bungalow in Brighton. Carolyn Hilder, a senior judge of the Court of Protection, also described “egregious” delays and the “glacial” progress in finding Mr Hickmott the right care package that would enable him to live in the community.

Now a care team for Mr Hickmott – who had been called “the loneliest man in the hospital” – is being assembled and he is expected to be in new accommodation in his home town by Nov 1. “He’s coming home – I can’t believe it,” his mother, Pam, 78, told BBC News. “It will be a real home. We’ll get him home and every day will be a bonus.”

However, she fears he could still face more delays, saying: “We can’t give him any more broken promises. He says ‘no more Christmases here, Mum. No more birthdays here.’ I’ve lost count of the broken promises. We can’t do it to him again.” Mr Hickmott has been held in a secure assessment and treatment unit, designed to be a short-term safe space, which is a two-hour drive from his parents.

In 2013, psychiatrists agreed he was “fit for discharge” but authorities failed to create an appropriate care package.

Last December, his parents took the case to the Court of Protection, which has jurisdiction over the welfare, financial affairs and assets of people who are deemed to lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Details of Mr Hickmott’s plight only emerged after a whistleblower at his hospital, Phil Devine, approached the BBC. He said the vulnerable adult, who has learning difficulties, autism and epilepsy, spent all his time in segregation. The institution has not been named so as to protect Mr Hickmott’s wellbeing.

Robert Persey, Brighton and Hove city council’s executive director for health and adult social care, said: “We’re really sorry this has taken so long. But it’s very complicated trying to get all the elements like housing and carers all ready at the right time for people with complex needs.

“The funding for the kind of complex care package needed in this instance is really challenging to achieve. They tend to be jointly funded with the NHS. But local government funding is continually being cut, and the NHS is also under financial pressures.”