Autism and the criminal justice system in the UK.

[nickwclarke]

Hi All,

I attended the 13th National Miscarriage of Justice Day on Saturday October 11th 2014 that was excellently organised by ‘United Against Injustice’ and got a lot out of the day that was held in the wonderful City of Liverpool.

I am in unfortunate position to be one of many thousands of innocent victims of miscarriage of justice that has been wrongly and unfairly convicted during a difficult time period for my family and myself. I could go on and on about what happened to me and how unfair it is but takes up too much posting space.

I will try and cut it down to a shortened version of events that has led me to being labelled a criminal for actions that was not my fault. I had a massive breakdown period back in 2004/05 and during this time period my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the blood commonly known as leukaemia and he passed away on November 30th 2005.

I was given the wrong type of antipsychotic and antidepressants that completely changed my whole personality and started to have aggressive outburst to a point that I was more and less thrown out of my family home by Birmingham Social Services for my disruptive behaviour while my Dad was slowly getting weaker and was housebound.

I was diagnosed with high functioning autism in 2004 commonly known as Asperger syndrome, during that time period no one really had a clue how to treat an adult with AS with a mental breakdown. I was sent to several hostels where I was physically and verbally bullied by staff that should have been looking after me.

The last and final hostel I was verbally bullied by the staff that also made physical threats towards me and due to the wrong meds and chemical imbalance I got frustrated and kicked the bottom of a glass door that cracked. I was then pinned to the floor by 3 staff, if you feel under threat and are being forced onto the floor you going to lash out to defend yourself.

I pinched and scratched and kicked out causing minor cuts and bruises, the Police were called and I was arrested and taken to the Police Station. I had to endure 2 nights in a cell then I was taken straight from the station into the back of a prison van to Birmingham Magistrates Court and was charged with ABH and criminal damage even though I was clearly too mentally unstable to plead guilty.

I had to serve 3 weeks on remand at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham that then got granted the funding to stay at a specialist AS Hospital. I am now trying to clear my unfair criminal record as I want to help and support children with autism and other additional needs and find my previous convictions are preventing pursuing my dream job.

Thanks for reading and if anyone would like to read my full story can email me on the following email address. nicholaswalterclarke@gmail.com

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK

[Admin]

Welcome to the forum Nick.

[nickwclarke]

Welcome to the forum Nick.

 

nickwclarke2014@BhamUk

[nickwclarke]

Thank you for welcoming me as a new member to The UK Justice Forum. I am fully aware that many members on this board might not know much about autism awareness in general, thinking adults and children on the autistic spectrum have higher anxiety and stress levels with lots of sensory issues to cope with so are then more likely to lash out. One is then clouded and brainwashed into thinking adults and children on the autistic spectrum cannot control their temper so are going to be unpredictable!

The bad press about Asperger syndrome does not help my campaign to clear my name as you only hear the bad stories about adults with AS doing horrific crimes of mass murder and sexual abuse etc. We then get labelled as no hopers without any future, not capable to work full time and lack in social and communication skills.

This is am unfair way to label someone with autism as unpredictable and aggressive in nature that cannot hold down a job and cannot deal or cope well with strangers or sudden changes that cannot communicate well with others. Each individuals autism effects them in different ways to the next person with autism, so cannot really compare one individuals autism from the next person that has autism.

I worked full time for 13 years and did my job to a high standard and was always punctual and a reliable and well valued staff member. A new manager took over and was bullied out of my job after 1st bullying the former manager out of his job who also walked out due to having a stress related condition from bullying at work.

I come from a large family and have 6 sisters and 1 brother and I am am uncle to 10 nephews and 4 nieces with an 11th nephew on the way in February 2015. I was never aggressive in nature at school or the 13 years while at work as it not in my nature to be at all aggressive both verbally and physically.

Due to having Asperger's I can admit to being narrow minded and I am only focused on doing a support work job status. I will not consider another type of career, I would rather be unemployed for the rest of my life, I have just had to reluctantly put my flat onto the market. I would rather be poor again draining all my money and life savings I put into my flat to pay to get my convictions to the supreme courts to hopefully get quashed.   

I am innocent and done nothing wrong and already have a certificate in autism awareness certificate for educator's and childcare level 1 certificate . You will find many adults with Asperger’s are great with kids, I am a very popular uncle, also have always found that I can get on and relate well with kids that warm to me naturally as they seem to like and get on better with adults with AS.

I was bullied into getting my criminal record and the bullies are seeing me suffer all my life for actions that could have and should have been avoided!

Safeguarding is far extreme and over the top nowadays! Not to dwell on the past look at the present by seeing the individual as they are now. Unless is serious offences against children of physical and sexual then fully agree should be barred for life working with children and vulnerable adults.

Sorry for such a long post I am just finding it extremely stressful the negativity I am getting from schools and homes that help and support children and young adults with autism and other additional needs, not to give me discretion I fully deserve. I have been told by a criminal law solicitor that I am in regular contact with that I can work with children and vulnerable adults with my present convictions as it is not in any way breaking the law by employing me as a potential staff member.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK

[guinness]

unfortunately I think your story can be quite common. My Nephew suffered a similar "threat " because he attacked a helper in the home where he is. He was sitting quietly on his own when all of a sudden the room was filled by other residents who had just been on a trip and they were all noisy and rushing about . He just lashed out unfortunately then was restrained which made it worse.

the second occasion was when he was trying to live in a house ( within a home) and the "helpers" would come into the accommodation every day to help them cook , get dressed etc. On this occasion they sent a brand new helper that I understand he had not met before , with the same reaction.

He was sectioned for a while and I am not sure about a criminal record but he was interviewed by the police and threatened with borstal. He was also unfortunately in one of the Winterbourne institutions for a while.

The difference with him is he will never be allowed out in the community anyway , but with you it sounds as if your whole future has been jepordised through no fault of your own.

[nickwclarke]

  Guinness,

I may have posted too much information in one go that can be put members off from reading and do not have time today to respond fully to what you kindly shared with me that sadly happens a lot still nowdays autism is misunderstood by society in general.

I will not be defeated, I will pursue in my dream job have numerous amounts of highly respected people backing and supporting my campaign for fair justice, I am not just doing it for myself, many other innocent victims deserve to have fair justice on their side.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK

[guinness]

I think I heard correctly that the police now have to be a lot more careful now when attending a situation where they think an illness is involved rather than a crime . I think one force was taking professional help with them where ever possible . So perhaps things may slowly be changing .

Unfortunately as far as residential care is concerned there is a long way to go.

with regards to legal process I was made aware of a very disturbing case recently where a young man with special needs died due to apparent neglect whilst under the care of the NHS . The parent not only have to fight for answers but pay for their own representation against the Trust. that can not be right can it?

BTW  don't worry about your long post - I am sure the whole story is even longer and the effect on your life hard to bear.

[nickwclarke]

  once again Guinness for your reply,

I personally and so do many others feel hard done by the current British Justice System that is unfair and corrupt that is going against human rights by denying potentially excellent future staff from getting employment in the health and social care sector.

I am proud to be British and was born and raised in the UK, one would have thought the UK is a fair and liberated Country to live in that should not be discriminating and labelling people unfairly for having a none serious criminal record or a one off conviction.

Yet they come up with an enhanced DBS that stays with you till your 100th Birthday, one then has to live with a life sentence for a crime that you did not really commit if you were too mentally unstable at the time of arrested. I hear sad stories of someone at a young age while in their teens a time when many teenagers get up to no good and nick a bottle of vodka due to peer pressure or are bullied into committing a criminal offence.

Want to go to University to study medicine and cannot get their degree as they have a conviction that's not against children or vulnerable adults. To be punished all your life for have a one off criminal record is unfair and should automatically get filtered off the enhanced DBS check by relaxing the strict tight rules.

I have my local Labour MP supporting me since 2005 after I was in prison on remand and have a former Police Inspector backing me up as they can see how wrong it is to convict someone that was clearly mentally unwell at the time that was not fit to plead guilty in court.

By UK law you are not allowed to charge and convict someone that's too mentally unstable instead the individual should to be sectioned and cared for properly. I would also like to point out that not one staff member at the hostels I was staying at took charge of the anti psychotics and anti depressants. I was left all day unattended to roam the streets and carried my meds with me and at times overdosed or did not take the meds at all.

Side effects it gave me were memory loss and unpredictable behaviour patterns if you are not monitored properly. Self harming and attempts to end my life was not attention seeking or being naughty. The psychiatrist at the time came to the conclusion that I was fit to stand trial as I was not mentally ill just attention seeking and be naughty on purpose.

Why should I give into such an unfair law when I have done nothing wrong in the 1st place, the sad thing is the majority of the UK general public think that the tight rules are right and justified to have in place a zero tolerance attitude to anyone with a criminal record without looking into the reasons behind why they got them in the 1st place.

I will stop now as once again this post is becoming rather long again!

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK

[guinness]

That is a long time to be fighting  Do you think you will get somewhere in the end?

[nickwclarke]

I have only be fighting to clear my convictions since December 2012, after I walking out of a full time job I managed to hold down for 13 years in May 2012 due to bullying from the manager.

It was a manual labour job and was not getting much job satisfaction and coped with the daily bullying for over 2 years when the former manager of over 25 years left due to stress from bullying from the deputy manager that bullied him out of his job as he wanted his position.

I was then the next victim as he did not like me as I take longer to take in and process information with up to a 40 seconds delay to respond back to him and then thinks I am taking the mick! This is unfair as the autistic brain takes in and processes information slower so might look as if we are not listening to what being said and may not give eye contact at times that's also a typical autistic trait. I can look into peoples eyes just not someone that bullying me as it makes me even more anxious and nervous.

I contacted my local MP as I was finding it hard to find employment helping and supporting children and  vulnerable adults due to having an unfair criminal record. She has been excellent writing to the Justice Minister and West Midlands Police Chief Inspector both said I would have to go to the court of appeal to get my criminal record quashed.

What really frustrates me is a week before I was arrested and charged for ABH and criminal damage I wanted to be voluntarily sectioned under the mental health act outside an psychiatric hospital. I was turned away and refused to go so they called the police and was taken to the station and driven back to the hostel of hell!

I then had an outburst did look threatening and the Police arrived and was forcefully pushed onto the ground cuffed from behind and assaulted by a male police officer while I was still cuffed and did not provoke him in any way. I was taken back to the station and was further assaulted at the back of the patrol car and kept locked in a cell until the early hours of the morning with no offer of a drink of water or a meal! I was then once again driven back to the hostel of hell!

I wished the hostel refused to take me back again and was sent to a psychiatric ward instead as a week later was when I was arrested and charged for ABH and criminal damage. I would not have a criminal record haunting me if they dealt with my breakdown quicker.

I have written about my childhood to present day and hope once justice has been served I will publish my book that I hope will help and inspire others to push for fair justice for having an unfair criminal record against them.

Next post will be a lot more positive than this one with the good things I achieved over the past two years since walking out the job I did for 13 years to show I am slowly making steady progress to clear my convictions.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK 

[nickwclarke]

As I said previously I been told by my criminal law solicitor that with my current conviction I am allowed to work with children and vulnerable adults it's the discretion of the organisation if they are willing to give me the breakthrough by giving me a probation period to see how I get on in doing the job role.

I am a regular volunteer for several local good causes that involves helping and supporting children and vulnerable adults that have all giving me discretion looking at me as I am now at the present and not to dwell and label me from the past when I was in the midst of a big breakdown period in my life!

It is very biased and unfair to label a victim as they are not at all a criminal just misunderstood at the time when they were mentally unstable. Someone like myself that has been through the ups and downs in life would be a very good role model to youngsters in society. I would be the last person to hurt a child or adult in any form as I know how it feels to be bullied and would never want to pose it on anyone else.

I have several mitigation letters in my favour and happy to copy and paste one mitigation letter minus the contact details;

I have known Nick for approximately one year, during my time as temporary part time Manager at Autism ********, where Nick is still a volunteer.

Nick was a pleasure to work with.  He was always punctual, reliable and hard-working with a conscientious approach to all aspects of work.  He has a warm, friendly and approachable personality and interacted well with volunteers, staff, and customers alike in a professional manner.  He was polite and helpful and could be trusted to assist and serve customers, using his initiative to provide excellent customer service.  He is a good team worker and would lend his hand to any task with enthusiasm and care.

Nick has an excellent understanding of his field of expertise; Aspergers and autism spectrum disorders, and worked alongside a volunteer who required supervision – where he showed great sensitivity.   Indeed, Nick appears to be very highly regarded, trusted and accepted within his circle of friends and acquaintances; where in some cases he gives of his own time in order to assist and motivate young people on the autistic spectrum, setting appropriate boundaries when faced with challenging or unacceptable behaviours; drawing upon his knowledge, training and experience; whilst allowing for possible triggers in behaviour which he will have anticipated and identified.  He has undertaken extensive training and qualifications to follow his desired career path to date. I understand that he also is involved in related support networks. 

Nick also has an infectious sense of humour and fun, which serves him well and can inject a sense of reality and help diffuse potentially disruptive situations.

Nick has a very deep desire to advance in his chosen field, despite various setbacks, and he has worked tirelessly and diligently in his determination to rectify outdated personal circumstances which he feels have hampered his progress unfairly and which no longer reflect his current situation; such is his passion to succeed with what is on his heart to do.  I would wholeheartedly and unreservedly support Nick in this as I feel he has a tremendous amount to offer a potential employer and deserves a chance to prove himself.  Nick is dedicated and ‘lives and breathes’ his dream, and would be an asset to any organisation working with young people, where Nick appears to have a special affinity and talent.

I really need a paid job now, as so far every job I have applied for so far I do not even get to the interview stages due to having a criminal record that's not at all my true character! I have a mitigation letter and several character reference letters showing my true personality that I have always had apart from when I had a my breakdown.

One stage last year took up smoking for a while as I wanted to harm my health on purpose as I knew how bad smoking is for your health, I just did not care back then that I might have an early grave! I have not had one cigarette since December 31st 2013 as I now realise I will get there in the end as justice will finally be granted.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK
 

 

[nickwclarke]

Hi once again,

I been told I have done all I can do so far to prove that I am not a criminal it was the fault of those that should have known better in authority during my breakdown and diagnoses of AS. At the time of my breakdown period the UK's 2nd largest City Birmingham back in 2004/05 had no adult services for adults with Asperger syndrome. I was diagnosed by a child autistic psychologist at the age of 25 with AS.

I know numerous amounts of adults both male and female with AS working in the health and social care sector and are excellent support workers. Why should I be denied the opportunity to be able to help and support children and adults with additional needs live a more rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle.

The wage package is low that does not bother me at all as it more important to like and be happy in the job you do on a lower income. Also I am fully aware that at times the job can be extremely stressful and at times doing tasks that are not that pleasant to do that I can adapt to easily.

Why should I be denied employment working with children and vulnerable adults when currently there are staff that are working with children and vulnerable adults that have previous none serious convictions before the tragic murder of Holly and Jessica with the evil monster Ian Huntley in Soham.

Since his evil act it has blown opportunities for law abiding citizens that have gone through a bad period during their life with minor or one off conviction. Many of the general public seem to agree with this unfair rule they put in place! Politicians have not got a clue about real life in general for the average working to middle class citizen.

They can do a serious crime sexually assaulting children and are allowed to appeal despite having strong evidence they did the evil act on an innocent young defenceless victim. They have the money to appeal as their status also benefits them to jump ahead of the public that are also appealing at the Supreme Court.

The UK Justice System is outdated and biased and an unfair system as so many mentally related prisoners are wrongly sentenced and are serving a long or live prison sentence for a crime they never committed are were mentally unstable at the time of being convicted. Many of the general public are brainwashed into thinking anyone with a criminal record even if it is a petty or one off criminal offence should be labelled in a negative way all their life.

We are living in a free modern democratic country and this unfair law and regulation needs to be reviewed and relaxed more to separate the real criminals from those with minor or one of convictions. I feel like I am living in North Korea and not the UK under communism to label someone for having a mental breakdown and similar scenarios.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK 

[John]

I can emphasize with you Nick having been dealt a very similar hand through no fault of my own.  Getting any conviction overturned is an onerous and uphill task and can be soul destroying as well as very expensive.  I have learned that the justice system dreads overturning wrongful convictions since they bring their cherished system into disrepute.  One saving grace however is that there is no time limit on bringing an application to the CCRC.

[nickwclarke]

Thanks John & sorry to read that you are also a victim of injustice and are right about The British Justice System do not want to admit when they make costly mistakes that the ruins that individuals who life!

Another important factor to share about autism in general is that it often termed as a 'hidden disability'  as a child or adult on the autistic spectrum look perfectly formed and normal in appearance. While a child or adult with down syndrome you can tell that they have a disability by their looks. Adults with down syndrome can also work full time, marry and raise a family. I have a good friend with downs and she works full time and has been in relationships and owns her own property with a mortgage.

My personality changed when I was being assessed by a psychiatrist being polite and helpful so then thought I was mentally stable as I was good at hiding my unpredictable behaviour so then assumed I knew exactly what I was doing was wrong and should plead guilty. My family and I trusted the criminal lawyer representing me at magistrates court that if I plead guilty will be over and done with by not having to go through the crown court before a jury and superior judge.

My family did not know I was in prison or would have come to Birmingham Magistrates Court for moral support as my social worker decided to hold back this important information. At the police station my hostel manager turned up to be my appropriate adult who got a service user to break the door lock into my bedroom who punched me in the face for refusing to go into work and walked out again!

I am not making all these incidents and events up as adults and children with AS find it hard to tell lies or make up stories! Maybe one of the moderators or members of this forum can give me some advice if I can plea straight with CCRC as it taking forever for my criminal law solicitor to take my unfair convictions to the supreme court. Could my case be termed as exceptional circumstances as I have kept all the original court archives and family emails and medical records clearly showing I was unfit to plead guilty.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/criminal-cases-review-commission

Last night I watched crimes court on CCTV and a guy in the middle of Bedford Town Centre was swinging a machete in public view and was waving it at police officers and he gets a slap on the wrist with just a community order and a 8 month suspended prison sentence!

Yet they rather lock up a mentally ill vulnerable adult 3 weeks on remand for self defending after being a victim of bullying being pinned and restrained in the incorrect way. You are not meant to try and drag down someone onto the full by pulling them. You need to grab the person from behind and wait until they have calmed them down again and not forcing them onto the floor.

A similar incident happened recently the police were called to a home for adults with distress behaviour after an autistic man had a meltdown and was restrained for several hours. When the police officers arrived they said you should not be calling us you as he needs professional psychiatric care and support. The staff were charged in the end for using excessive amount of force and pinning the man with autism for several hours!

I would like to share a 7 minute documentary I participated in and appear just after the purple sensory room shot at 4:10 in a children autism charity shop I regularly volunteer at.

pX3xo8#ws]Autism and the Police: A Postcode Lottery

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK

[nickwclarke]

There is still a long way to go to raise awareness not just autism and the police and British Justice System! Other mentally related individuals with unfair convictions are still occurring with thousands of prisoners locked away in prison. It is bad enough if you are mentally stable as you leave prison mentally unstable, one can now see why suicide is going up in prisons!

When I was unfairly placed in prison when I had a breakdown they knew I had additional needs and even said I am feeling suicidal when I was being booked in and one of the prison officer started to laugh and make a joke about it making that made me feel worse. I was put in a main prison wing sharing with a cell mate that was aggressive at times towards me! I should have been kept in the hospital wing of the prison as a vulnerable adult with a mental breakdown period.

I was told that a West Midlands Police Officer recently made fun of a young adult that showed an autism alert awareness card to show emergency services that he was on the autistic spectrum so may come across as acting in a strange manner due to his autism. The officer snatched it off his hand and destroyed the card in front of him laughing as he did it. This of course made it worse and the young adult lashed out and then gets done for assaulting a police officer.

It should be made compulsory that every single UK police officer should be trained to deal autism related call outs as many adults and children with autism have sensory issues so can imagine a police car siren going right beside them with the loud sound will just make them even more aggressive as they cannot cope with the loud siren! We tend to have more sensitive hearing patterns picking out sounds others would not pick up on.

It is termed as being hyper sensitive to sounds and then being grabbed is another wrong thing to be doing as some adults and children with autism will then hit out as it physically causing them pain. Clothing can cause physical pain which is why some children and adults with autism tend to strip naked if given the opportunity and then are charged for indecent exposure! 

Then being locked away in a confined space for several hours at the police station just fusses the situation. Instead need to have professional psychiatric help at a hospital unit rather then a police cell and prison cell.

nickwclarke2014@BhamUK