Autistic man's 'cruel' living conditions under scrutiny

  • 18/06/2016
Autistic man's 'cruel' living conditions under scrutiny

The conditions autistic man Ashley Peacock is living in have been labelled as cruel by the Chief Ombudsman, renewing calls for him to be reintroduced into the community.

Mr Peacock has been living in near-permanent seclusion at a Porirua mental health unit for the past five years.

He sleeps in a 10m square room with just his mattress and urine bottle and is allowed outside for an average of 90 minutes a day, the New Zealand Herald has reported.

Mr Peacock suffers from intellectual disabilities and has a schizophrenic illness. His unit is subject to inspections under the Crimes of Tortures Act.

"I consider this client's living situation to be cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for the purpose of the Convention Against Torture," said Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier in the latest report.

"While significant work is still going on behind the scenes to secure accommodation in the community for this client, the process has been excruciatingly slow. Now into his sixth year of living in a seclusion room, this situation needs to be resolved without any further delay."

The general manager of mental health, addictions and disabilities services Nigel Fairley said that Mr Peacock has some of the "highest and most complex needs" and that the "situation is not ideal".

The new report comes as fellow Ombudsman Ron Paterson finished a separate investigation into the matter.

"While I consider that procuring suitable accommodation for Ashley remains a complex matter, which will require a number of committed and qualified specialists, I believe that during the initial stages of my investigation there was a lack of collaboration, and insufficient resources available, to make real progress," Mr Paterson said.

He found that community placement transitioning should be applied "directly".

Seclusion comes under strict regulation in New Zealand and should only be used as a last resort.

Newshub.