People with autism and learning difficulties should be moved from institutions into the community, the government promised a decade ago. Yet tonight – in a joint investigation with the Independent newspaper, this programme can reveal the shocking treatment of a 28-year-old man who has now been locked up for more than 10 years.
Nicholas Thornton, who has autism and a learning disability, has been abused physically and verbally. One nurse even tried to suffocate him. Nicholas is currently in a mental health unit despite having no mental health diagnosis.
And a warning that this report contains distressing images.
