A 17-year-old at-risk boy, believed to have high-functioning autism, is to get a "last chance" at living a normal life following a High Court decision yesterday to move him from a psychiatric unit to a structured community setting.
The boy, who will be 18 next month, has been in care for many years and his case sparked controversy after he was seriously assaulted in St Patrick's Institution, where he was placed by the High Court two years ago because there was no appropriate place for him.
Mr Felix McEnroy SC, for the health board charged with the boy's welfare, told Mr Justice Kearns yesterday that the boy had a significant behavioural disorder and a personality disorder which had led to psychotic episodes, warranting admission to a psychiatric hospital for brief periods.
The hospital believed it was medically inappropriate to keep the boy there. He was not psychiatrically ill and did not want to remain there. The health board believed he should move to a form of supported lodgings. The court heard that returning home was not an option for the boy.
The judge was told by two psychiatrists that they believed the best option was to release the boy into a structured community setting. He had engaged in structured part-time work earlier this year and there had been some success before his behaviour deteriorated, apparently as a result of smoking cannabis.
The plan now was to place him in a flat with 24-hour supports, including a psychiatric nurse, and therapeutic programmes, including art therapy. The boy had a real talent for art and there was a prospect that he could make a living from it one day.
One psychiatrist said any attempt to engage with the boy in a therapeutic way was pointless while he remained in the hospital, because he was focused entirely on getting out of it. The hospital staff believed that keeping him there would effectively make him a long-term institutionalised patient. The boy had said he would keep away from drugs and wanted to get a job and live a normal life.
Mr Justice Kearns directed that the boy should be moved to the structured community setting next Monday, provided it was ready. As long as there was hope that the proposed initiative might work, he would certainly give it a try, the judge said.