CCTV of an autistic pupil being restrained by staff in a seclusion room at a special school is “brutal” and “unlawful”, a restraint expert has told the BBC. The footage shows the 12-year-old being held face-down on the floor in a prone restraint involving five members of staff. His mother, who gave it to the BBC, said she was “horrified” when she watched it. The management of the school, in Leeds, said multiple investigations found staff had no case to answer and the expert views were a “difference of opinion”. The BBC has also spoken to an autistic pupil who was aged five when he was detained for prolonged periods at a different school.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described those failings as “horrendous” and said they “must never happen again”. Now, we have separately learned of concerns about the use of such rooms elsewhere, including footage recorded in October 2023 at Springwell Leeds Academy North site – a school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health special needs.
The CCTV includes one 50-minute video in which an 12-year-old autistic pupil is repeatedly restrained by staff and shown trying to kick them. Near the end of the footage, the child swings his arm at staff and is then manoeuvred to the floor. He is then held in a prone restraint for three minutes. Eric Baskind, an expert on the use of force in institutional settings who has reviewed the footage, said the restraint is “too brutal, unnecessary and, in my view, unlawful” – an opinion endorsed by a second expert asked to review the footage by the BBC.
A third expert, education consultant Elizabeth Swan, said the use of force was “unreasonable, excessive and unnecessarily prolonged”. She also said the room resembled a “holding cell” and many autistic children find being deprived of sensory stimulation traumatising.
A calming room should be a room for children to calm down with blankets, teddies and soft lighting. Not a padded cell. You wouldn’t put an animal in there. In response, Wellspring Academy Trust’s chief executive, Mark Wilson, told the BBC that it had conducted three investigations into the footage and found no case to answer against staff. He also said that an investigation by Leeds City Council’s local authority designated officer – responsible for managing allegations against adults who work with children – had found that malpractice was unsubstantiated.
In a further statement, Mr Wilson said the incident was typical of those that happen in schools “from time to time” and this “difference of opinion” concerned footage which was “selective”, lacking context and sound, and misrepresentative of staff care. He also said the school was rated “good” by Ofsted.
Although the door to the room at the Leeds school was open, the BBC’s investigation into seclusion has revealed that pupils are also sometimes locked in rooms elsewhere. Zip up tents have also been used – and even, in one instance, a cage. We have spoken to an eight-year-old autistic pupil who was repeatedly locked inside seclusion rooms at a different school while aged five.
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has repeatedly declined to be interviewed about the lack of regulation of calming rooms. In response to our latest findings, the government said a consultation is under way about use of force and restrictive interventions – and it is awaiting the findings of a Waltham Forest investigation.
Draft guidance asks schools to have a policy on seclusion but this will not be a legal requirement. Meanwhile, the families of Whitefield pupils have now formed a campaign group that is calling on the government to act.
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