Hell for family of young man with Downs Syndrome
~ April 18th, 2008
credit: An 18 year old young man with Downs Syndrome and his family from Lanarkshire describe going ‘through hell’ after a recent accusation of assault, according to The Daily Record.
Jamie Bauld was charged with a racist assault after pushing away an Asian girl at his college. While the police that questioned Jamie told his dad Jim that the case would come to nothing, it took another seven and a half months for prosecutors to inform the family that the case had been dropped. During this time Jamie became terrified of being put in prison.
The family are highly critical of the prosecutors handling of the case not only due to the length of time it took to dismiss, but also a lack of communication.
Downs Syndrome Scotland have vowed to question Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill over the way people with learning difficulties are treated by the authorities, and lets hope someone sits up and takes notice of the terrible and unnecessary ordeal Jamie and his family have had to indure. As Jamie’s father has said: “The whole thing was a nonsense from start to finish”.
Get the latest,