Paul is a 34-year-old autistic man who is locked up in an institution where even his family is not allowed to see his living conditions, writes Christine Newman.
He looks like a wizened 70-year-old, bent with scoliosis, his thin legs covered with varicose veins. Deep self-inflicted scratch marks disfigure his face. Marks on his swollen wrist and ankles indicate he is strapped to his bed and chairs for long periods.
Paul's life was yesterday described by Mrs Kathryn Sinnott, who fought for her autistic son Jamie's education rights,
To illustrate her view that policy cannot hope to meet the needs of the person because it is based on politics, she told, at times with her voice trembling, of Paul's situation.
She said: "In my life, I have not seen even an animal in such a state of neglect. Paul lives three miles from the Minister for Health. Paul is a monument to policy."
This is Paul's story as told by Mrs Sinnott.
At four years old, Paul was normal but something happened and he abruptly lost speech and development. He had to wait two years for a diagnosis of autism. According to policy, he was at six years old, a no-hoper.
Paul's loving parents were told it was in his best interests to send him to an institution. With heavy hearts they handed their young son over to the experts.
Paul was not provided with anything but food and shelter. Despite clutching his abdomen in pain and exhibiting all the signs of illness and distress, the nearest he got to a doctor was the psychiatrist.
He never had education therapy or medical care so he became progressively more disabled.
When he was 17, his appendix burst and he was taken to hospital. As his behaviour had become increasingly challenging, the service providers took the opportunity to transfer him to a long-stay psychiatric hospital. Four years later, Paul was moved to a smaller but no less cold, unwelcoming, locked facility. He is still there with 32 other inmates. Visits are held in a tiny, drab waiting room on the porch. No one, not even family, is allowed through the locked doors. No one can see his living conditions.
Paul has the pale complexion of someone with advanced liver failure due possibly to the amount of drugs he has been given over the years. Most distressing were his eyes. They were confused, terrified and pleading.