By Aura Mackintosh Bamber, 22 February 2022 For any child’s family, a diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome brings with it a number of responsibilities and worries that are involved in properly caring for and managing this complex disorder. These worries are only exacerbated when a decision is made to deprive that child of their liberty inContinue reading “Delay in finding a suitable placement for a young adult with Prader-Willi syndrome”
Tag Archives: Section 21A
Prader-Willi Syndrome and Transparency
A young man with Prader-Willi Syndrome was at the centre of a hearing before Theis J. I can only tell you this because journalist Brian Farmer and I made submissions to the judge saying that we should be allowed to report it and she eventually agreed.
Untenable and unsafe: A trial of living in the community breaks down
So, Mr G will return to the safety of residential care, where he will no doubt continue to rage against his incarceration, but there will be a suitable infrastructure to help him manage his precarious health condition. The question one is left with, of course, is, as Munby J famously said: “What good is making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable?”
How long can you keep trying to rebut the presumption of capacity?
By Celia Kitzinger, 3rd December 2021 It’s a fundamental principle of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 that “A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity” (1(2)) Likewise, “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision” (1(4)). TheContinue reading “How long can you keep trying to rebut the presumption of capacity?”
Fact-finding, ‘magnetic importance’, and the consternation of colleagues: A final hearing adjourned
At the heart of this hearing is the question of whether P can live with her mother, who loves her and wants to care for her. Attempts to elicit P’s wishes and feelings have been unsuccessful, but the social worker has said that “having observed the loving and affectionate relationship that [P] has with her family and that she has been cared for by them throughout her life, it is understood that [P] would wish to continue to stay with her family and be cared for by them”.
A trial of living at home – a “suspended sentence” of returning to care
By Jenny Kitzinger, 20th October 2021 Mr G desperately wants to live in his own flat – but this option is hanging by a thread. After a series of court hearings at which he challenged his “detention” in residential care (via s.21A of the Mental Capacity Act 2015), he finally moved back into his ownContinue reading “A trial of living at home – a “suspended sentence” of returning to care”
“You can’t ask the High Court to turn a blind eye to illegal detention”
“You have to do better than that. You can’t ask the High Court to turn a blind eye to illegal detention. If this was an immigration case, I would be letting him out now. You can’t unlawfully detain people in the UK. You’ve got four days to sort this out. If the situation is that he should just go home – then just do it. I’m not going to order you to do it because I haven’t got the evidence.” (Mrs Justice Lieven)
Hillingdon 10 Years on: Another Deprivation of Liberty
EW’s wish to end her days in Inverness may not weigh heavily in the best interests decision that will need to be made if the court decides that she lacks capacity to make her own decision about where to live. I worry that the groundwork for that is already being prepared. There was a weariness whenever Scotland was mentioned.
Best interests decisions when P’s views and wishes cannot be determined
The issue at this hearing was (still) whether NW should remain in Dover House, which is what the CCG (who fund her care) argued, supported by the local authority, or whether she should return home, which is what her mother wants.
“An onlooker at someone else’s social event”: A mother’s experience of the court
I don’t understand what was decided at the hearing. I did not get anything like a bit of paper saying “This is what was decided at your court hearing”. I don’t understand why there is another hearing planned for next year. Throughout these months between now and the next hearing my belief is that Lillian is not being given the care that she needs and is not being protected. I just want my daughter to come home.
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 