Ex-pupil wins damages over face-down restraint at Oxfordshire special school
Share:
Boy was restrained face down by staff and others placed a towel around the door of his room to stop him leaving. A former student who was repeatedly restrained face down and once imprisoned for nearly five hours at a special school has been awarded £18,900 in damages.
The father of the student, who is now 25 and cannot be named for legal reasons, launched a claim against Mulberry Bush school in Standlake, Oxfordshire, on behalf of his son, who was a pupil there until 2009. On 8 November, a high court judge found that the boy was restrained face down by staff three times and that others placed a towel around the door of his room to stop him leaving it 14 times.
Judge Margaret Obi ruled that the restraints constituted battery and that being prevented from leaving his room constituted unlawful imprisonment. She also awarded aggravated damages because of the school’s “failure to appreciate the significance and seriousness of a member of staff using a face-down restraint”, with senior staff members aware that it had taken place.
Staff also continued to use the towel to restrict the pupil’s movement even after a social worker had warned against it. Obi did not find the school guilty of negligence, on the grounds the actions were taken “as a last resort in the context of a well-managed school environment”.
Emma Jones, a partner at the Leigh Day law firm, said experts involved in the case were clear that face-down restraints should almost never be used for children because of the risk to life, except very exceptionally in hospitals and psychiatric units.
