Autistic man with emotional age of a child in jail over Christmas

The 34-year-old was released into his parents' care following a High Court hearing on January 15. 

A man with autism and severe anxiety, which renders him with the emotional age of a child, was imprisoned in Cork Prison for nearly a month over Christmas, the Irish Examiner has learned.

The man was arrested at his home on December 20 by armed gardaí because he sent emails which were allegedly threatening violence. 

The 34-year-old, who has struggled to adapt since he left full-time education, had been waiting on a residential placement in the UK through the HSE, but problems with the British facility meant he could not attend.

He was remanded to Cork Prison when he was charged, even through the presiding judge emphasised she did not want to send him to prison but had no choice because the HSE had no placement for him.

In prison, he shared cells with other prisoners, some of whom had their own psychological conditions, according to a diary that he kept. 

His mother was allowed to bring him in a children’s book despite there being rules against books being brought in by visitors due to previous attempts to smuggle in drugs. 

He was released into his parents' care following a High Court hearing on January 15. 

The terms of his bail include that his parents must be in his presence at all times that he is awake and ensure he has no access to the internet.

“It has destroyed our lives,” his mother said. 

“We have lost complete trust. We are now effectively under house arrest to look after our son and keep him away from the internet.

“They wanted to protect the public from him. I have wanted to protect him from the public, to protect him from getting into trouble and I have failed because we never got support from anybody in this struggle.”