Dad blasts Walsall Council after being gagged over autistic daughter's care

The 50-year-old, who has given his name only as Jeremy, launched a social media campaign as he believed his 17-year-old daughter Bethany, from Walsall, had been placed in a care unit unfit for her needs.

She has been in a facility in Northampton for nearly two years where the heartbroken dad has been forced to kneel down and speak to his daughter through a metal hatch.

He insists the setting is not suitable for Bethany and, rather than helping, is harming her and she is becoming increasingly scared and anxious due to her condition PDA (pathological demand avoidance).

Walsall Council tried to silence the former college lecturer by taking out an injunction but the outraged father is now free to speak out after winning a High Court battle, which has landed the authority with a hefty legal bill.

It's claimed Bethany's care is costing the NHS £13,000 a week.

Council bosses launched action after getting wind of Jeremy's complaints on Facebook and Twitter, which attracted sympathetic comments from hundreds of people, including health experts.

Jeremy said he felt the council tried to silence him to spare its reputation. The authority said it took action to try and protect Bethany's privacy. The teenager was placed at St Andrews Hospital for her own safety and that of others but her father says he is not being correctly managed.

He said he decided to speak out 'because of her plight'.

Jeremy told the Express & Star: "Someone who has PDA needs to be in control of a vast amount of their life. She found herself in isolation before she was moved into what I call a seclusion room - a 10x12 cell with a metal door.

"She was falling apart in front of my eyes. I tweeted about it and then was asked to go on a radio programme.

"Walsall Council approached me and asked me to stop tweeting as they felt it was invading Bethany's privacy. They then told me they were serving an injunction on me."

Jeremy, who is now a truck driver and lives in Harborne, Birmingham, was shocked by what he thought were heavy-handed actions by the local authority and was not prepared to accept it without a battle.

He was approached by charity Mencap who hired two top barristers to fight his case.

He said: "The thought of taking me to court was bad enough but I was disgusted they threw so much money at a court case which would have been better spent providing better care for Bethany."

Walsall Council said: "Walsall Council did not seek an injunction to stop a father from making public statements about the care of his daughter but a rather narrower restriction on the publication of information such as could or might identify her.

"Moreover, following a meeting between the parties on October 10, after the application was issued but prior to it being heard, at which the father was present and agreement reached on how we will best manage communications with the child, Walsall sought permission at the first opportunity to withdraw its application which permission was granted."