Police handcuffed autistic schoolboy after school bust-up

POLICE handcuffed an autistic schoolboy following a school bust-up.

Colin Gow, 12, who also has the spinal condition spina bifida, was shackled following an incident at Lanark Grammar.

His dad found him “distressed, sobbing and still restrained” after racing to the school.

Police and education chiefs at South Lanarkshire Council, however, have insisted the disabled lad was only restrained to keep everyone “safe from physical harm”.

The slightly built pupil – who is only 5ft 1in – has been left “terrified” of police following the incident, claim parents Colin Sr and Sharon.

He also required hospital treatment at Wishaw General Hospital.

The family is now demanding an urgent review of how police and school authorities reacted to the incident.

“It broke my heart to see my son in handcuffs,” said distraught dad Colin Sr. “It wasn’t the way to deal with this incident.”

The pupil, who attends a special unit at Lanark Grammar, one of Scotland’s oldest secondary schools, was in a school corridor when he got into a row with his older brother Keiran, 13, who is also autistic.

Colin threw a plastic drinks bottle at Keiran and a fight started between the brothers which resulted in Police Scotland being called.

A male and female officer arrived shortly before school was due to finish on February 2, and the female officer handcuffed Colin.

Colin Sr raced to the school after being alerted to what had happened.

“The first thing I did was ask the officer to take the handcuffs off – he was clearly very distressed – and I put my arms round him to comfort him,” he said.

Colin claims one of the police officers later said it had not been made clear to them the boy has autism and additional needs.

The cuffing follows a period where there has been a string of calls from the school about unruly behaviour on the boy’s part.

But autism specialists had advised Colin and Sharon to take a hands-off approach where possible, and let the school’s dedicated staff deal with any issues as they arose.

According to its website, Lanark Grammar meets the needs of pupils with a wide range of Additional Support Needs, a term covering a wide variety of learning conditions from autism to dyslexia. Colin is always taught separately in an Additional Support Needs class but is integrated into the main school for assembly, school dinners and break time.

Colin’s parents were initially optimistic their son would flourish in such an environment, particularly given the school’s excellent reputation and high number of specialist staff.

But mum Sharon says she feels Colin is not getting the support he currently needs.

South Lanarkshire Council’s Head of Education Carole McKenzie confirmed the police were called as a result of “concerns for the pupil’s safety”. She said the boy was attempting to leave school grounds without permission, which his parents deny.

Superintendent Louise Skelton, of Police Scotland, said officers quickly established “no criminality”.

She said: “In order to protect the boy involved, staff and officers, handcuffs were deployed in an effort to keep all parties safe from harm. Officers remained with the boy until he was left in the care of a relative.

“Police Scotland has been engaging with the family. No complaint has been received at this time.”

Last year the mum of a seven-year-old boy slammed police after they handcuffed the lad following an outburst in his bedroom.

Officers restrained Daniel Gourlay after they were called by a person caring for him. Mum Barbara Irvine, a 45-year-old nurse from Inverness, said: “It didn’t seem appropriate.”

Charlene Tait, director of Practice and Research at Scottish Autism, said there remains a lack of understanding of autism across many community support services.

She said: “The reorganisation of Scotland’s police force provides an ideal platform to look at extended autism training.”