Autistic son interviewed without appropriate adult

[taylorwhite883]

Hi my son who is 19 and autistic was not provided with an appropriate adult during the interview when he was arrested for breach of a restraining order which he confessed to in the interview.

He declined a solicitor at the police station so he had no support from anyone at the station during the custodial process and interview.

He was seen by a nurse shortly before the interview and then she gave the green light for him to be interviewed.

He is currently RUI and I was wondering what are the chances the confession could be excluded under S78 of PACE since this is a clear breach of PACE?

England.

Thanks.

His "rights" to unfettered Internet access start to look a little precarious when he's been arrested twice for online harassment. If he has limited understanding he needs to be monitored.
His victims have rights too.

@MichelleScarn If they were arrested and the law was not followed it doesn't matter if red has autism or not, you cannot uphold the law if you do not follow. If somebody makes a confession, you have to be absolutely sure that is was in no way coerced, this is what appropriate adults ensure.

@ReadersD1gest That's up to the courts to decide, not people on the internet who have decided that people never give false confessions.

For anyone who is interested: www.researchgate.net/publication/272122143_High_functioning_autism_spectrum_disorders_An_investigation_of_psychological_vulnerabilities_during_interrogative_interview

Unfortunately there are far too many people on this board who have no understanding of autism and aren't interested in understanding, they are only interested in be right and punishing the OP.

@Choconut
Having an autistic label doesn't preclude you from having to face justice, unless you are severely autistic with severe impairment and being non verbal.

Which makes me wonder whether autism needs to be re-studied .

Someone who is a bit anti social and loves to categorise their belongings really shouldn't be labelled the same as someone who screams at every noise, who also stims relentlessly and is non verbal and is unable to live an independent life.

Is that all the types of autism covered there? Doesn't need a restudy then, seems like you've got this.

I think there is a bit more to autism than your stereotypes.

I suspect you could also find out that people with neurodiversities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and specifically in prisons.

I'm sure his victim feels SO safe right now. 😒

justice systems an absolute joke. his poor victim.

My autistic son had several false allegations made against him by a girl and it had terrible consequences. He was beaten up, suspended from school and the police and social services became involved. Autistic people are SO vulnerable to this sort of thing. He was a minor so could never be interviewed without me there but I don't think the people here realise how easy it is to get an autistic youngster to agree to things, that's how we got into that point in the first place!

We were able to prove it was lies and that she had spent many months grooming him online. She never got into any trouble over it but his dreams of university were destroyed. She continued to harass him but was never seen as anything but the victim. The police even said that the allegation would stay on his record indefinitely, luckily this turned out to be unlawful so he does have a clean slate.

There are always two sides to any story, which is why it is so important that proper procedure if followed. OP asked a straightforward question and rather than answer it, you all went off on a crusade as you wanted OP's son punished without seeing any of the evidence. 19 year olds are mentally still children, autistic individuals take longer to mature so can legally be considered children until the age of 26. Think about it.

evidencebasedjustice.exeter.ac.uk/can-i-go-back-to-school-now-false-confessions-and-false-guilty-pleas-in-children/

Irrelevant, frankly, as OPs son has already been convicted of this crime and it has an awfully fucking high threshold for prosecution let alone conviction. Her son is NOT innocent and continues to terrify his victim.

Sorry for what your son went through but this is totally irrelevant.
OPs son has been convicted and there actually is a victim in all of this.

OPs son shouldn't have access to the internet. Anyone with SEN / this high level of vulnerability like your son should be on the internet with strict supervision. People like the OPs son with his extremities of vulnerability and capabilities shouldn't be on the internet at all.

@EmptyPlaces Just because he has been found guilty of a different offense, does not mean he is guilty of all future offenses, related or not.

We were able to prove it was lies and that she had spent many months grooming him online.

How would you have felt if the 'proof' that was used against this girl to convict her was discounted because of a technicality?

if the computers that held the evidence were refused to be handed to the police?

Or if she now comes back again, her parents know she's accessing things to be able to harass him again and they do nothing and actually facilitate her?

@trustfall Who is to supervise a vulnerable adult? Do you think adult social services has the people to go and watch people on the internet all day? It is a worry of curse, but there is only so much that can be done. Just because OP's son was found guilty of an offense, does not mean is guilty of all future ones and the law can be ignored.

@MichelleScarn This girl never was convicted, all that was done was they dropped the case against my son, they still maintained she was the alleged victim. She did continue to harass him, nothing was ever done. My son's education was irreparably damaged and she got away scot free.

Exactly, the law cannot be ignored. And the OPs son has already broken that and been convicted.

I stand by what I said, if the internet is causing this much damage (to your son, crushing dreams) and in the OPs case, her son getting convictions, I think the internet should be taken away in both cases. To protect your son in his case, and the victim in the OPs case.

@trustfall So it's just autistic people that should have their rights removed, is it? Whether they are the perpetrator of victim, interesting... No ableism here!

or victim

Erm, no, stop trying to create an issue that isn't there. If you read my previous quote I actually said anyone with this high level of vulnerability.

Stop reaching.

Also if you persevere removing the internet for vulnerable persons safety as removal of their rights then that's on you. That isn't the case at all.

@trustfall It was the internet that exonerated my son, without it we would have had no proof. The harassment continued, but in person, she never left a trail again.

Not sure why the OP is getting a hard time here, none of us can know if he is guilty or not?

If he is entitled to an appropriate adult then there needs to be one there, without it any evidence from that interview is worthless. It's in everyone's interests to follow the rules.

I had a friend severely assaulted, brain injuries. 15 year-old interviewed and confessed but no appropriate adult present. No other evidence was gathered due to the confession.

He walked free, evidence was inadmissible.

And when a autistic person refuses a solicitor it could indicate they do not understand the questions and if an appropriate adult had been provided ( as they should have been) then they could have requested a solicitor and made sure they understand all the questions.

This is why the confession and everything else said in the interview was unreliable because the Police breached PACE and the refusal of a solicitor was an indication he did not understand the questions.

As my sons solicitor pointed out the CPS will always end proceedings as early as possible to save both time and money if evidence appears to be inadmissable in court.

Thanks goodness my son had a good solicitor, I did my best to find out who has experience in dealing with autistic people and it paid off.

Does he understand the restraining order?