How could they do this to my son? Father reveals his child's suffering

Jack Owen was just 16 when he was handcuffed by police - although he had committed no crime - and taken to a locked psychiatric ward intended for highly disturbed adults.

That was only the beginning of his ordeal, one no parent would want their child to endure. On his first night in the unit, the teenager, suffering from a cannabis-induced breakdown, was sexually assaulted by an older male patient. Then another man threatened to slice him open from his neck to his stomach.

Highly traumatised, Jack tried to escape from the hospital where he had been sectioned, only to be picked up and handcuffed again by police, this time so tightly that they broke a bone in his wrist.

Eventually, he was transferred to an adolescent unit. Now 23, he is still traumatised by his experience at the hands of the British mental-health system. His father Michael is angry that his son was subjected to such appalling treatment. When he was first sectioned, Jack was placed in a windowless, padded room.

"He kept putting on layer after layer of clothing to protect himself after the attack," said Mr Owen. "We can condone spending millions on the Olympics, but we can't get our health system right, which means children are put in places where the most disturbed adults are treated."

Tomorrow, MPs will debate for the first time the Mental Health Bill which includes key proposals on how children with mental-health problems are looked after by the NHS.

The House of Lords has already tabled demands that the Government end the practice of treating children on adult wards and ensure that they are looked after by specially trained physicians. But the Government is seeking to overturn this amendment and mental-health charities warn that this will mean more children condemned to a bleak future. This is backed up by figures released this weekend, which highlight the scandal of how depressed and suicidal teenagers are subject to abuse and assault because they are sent to adult wards.

An investigation by the charity Young Minds has revealed that one vulnerable child is admitted to an adult mental-health ward under section every day - others are also put on the wards who have not been sectioned. In all, that is around 1,000 children, some as young as 12, put on adult wards every year. These children spend an average of one month on the ward with many spending far longer. Three-quarters of girls under 18 are held on mixed wards, some witnessing and experiencing physical, sexual and verbal assault. At least nine out of 10 children have no arrangements for their education there.

And a postcode lottery exists; London has three times more beds than Yorkshire and Humber per million population.

Mental-health campaigners have denounced the treatment of these children and adolescents, who are often heavily sedated instead of receiving therapy, as "shocking" and "unacceptable".

"Treatment in these conditions can be so threatening that children and families will be deterred from seeking the early help that can be vital in preventing long-term illness," said Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental-health charity Sane.

The Children's Commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, has condemned the practice as "a national scandal". The Government has put extra money into child and adolescent mental-health services but they are still under pressure and finding a bed at short notice is difficult.

The Independent on Sunday is urging MPs to read Jack's story before they debate the Mental Health Bill. This newspaper spent years highlighting the appalling treatment of people with depression and more serious psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia. This has highlighted the cases of patients who have languished in the system, especially those in secure hospitals who should have been moved on years ago. They include the writer Janet Cresswell who spent 27 years in Broadmoor for an act which would normally have earned her a short prison sentence, and Bill Collins who ended up in the secure hospital for 36 years when he too would have spent less time in jail.

When the IoS began its campaign in 2002, our demands included that mentally-ill people should get the appropriate treatment when they need it but also should not be forcibly treated on leaving hospital and that they should have the right to make decisions about their care.

One of the key objections among experts, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Law Society, has been the concern that the Government's reforms will increase the powers of psychiatrists to lock people up before they have committed any crime. Under existing laws, people had to be treatable for this to happen but ministers removed this treatability clause, much to the concern of psychiatrists and mental-health charities.

As a result of our campaign, the original draft of the Bill was put on hold and reworded but was still regarded as unacceptable. So ministers were forced to scrap their original reforms and instead introduce ones based on the existing Mental Health Act.

At the end of last year, peers added their own changes. As well as extra safeguards for child patients, these included restrictions on "psychiatric Asbos", special orders which ministers want to impose on patients but which the Lords say should only be used on those who have a history of refusing to take their medication.

But the battle is not over. Ministers have made it clear they do not intend to make further concessions and will argue tomorrow that watering down the Bill could endanger the public. But Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs plan an orchestrated campaign to amend the Bill so the rights and needs of patients, not just the public, are protected, and they get appropriate treatment.

In Jack's case, he was denied a bed on an adolescent ward because doctors said his psychosis made him too hyperactive to be on a ward with other children. His case highlights the struggle that thousands of adults and children have go through to get help.

For a long while before they sought help, Jack's parents had been concerned. "He did not seem to be coping with life - he was very insular and into skateboarding culture. Then we realised he was smoking a lot of cannabis and could not get him to stop," says his father. Jack's family contacted their GP but found him unhelpful. The doctor sent a locum to the Owens' house, who took the disastrous step of prescribing anti-depressants.

"You don't give anti-depressants to someone with a psychosis," says Mr Owen, who is now professionally involved in mental-health services. "It makes them even more hyper. Jack absolutely exploded, was pogoing around the house and would not drink or sleep. He thought he was being gassed by the Nazis."

At their wits' end, his parents dialled 999 one morning in February 2001, expecting an ambulance. Instead, 11 police cars turned up and 20 police officers bundled Jack off, handcuffed, in full view of his friends. "They completely freaked him out. I completely lost it. We had to find out where they had taken him - it turned out to be a decrepit adult ward. Imagine your worst nightmare and multiply it a thousand times. He was so zombied we thought 'this is it. He will be like this for the rest of his life'."

For nine days, Jack was knocked out with strong drugs. Eventually, he was transferred to an adolescent ward but had to be sectioned again when he went back to using cannabis.

He has recovered but must continue to take medication. His father points out that the trauma of being abused in the environment that was supposed to heal his son will take a long time to get over. "This place was supposed to be therapeutic. My son is still very traumatised and remembers every detail. If they had treated Jack properly he would have got over the psychosis quickly."

Names have been changed

'I became more depressed and isolated. I wasn't getting the help I needed'

Jay Taylor spent three weeks on an adult psychiatric ward in 2006 because doctors could not find her a bed at a young people's unit. The teenager was already battling depression and anorexia, and the experience left her even more vulnerable.

"It was nothing like I had ever seen before," says Jay, who was treated on the ward in Newcastle upon Tyne. "I was vulnerable; I became more depressed and isolated. I wasn't getting the help I needed."

Jay, now 18, saw one person being held down by nurses and forced to take their medication. She remembers a lot of shouting and aggression on the ward.

"It did get scary," she says. "They [patients] came towards you and were shouting and stuff. Being so young, I didn't know what to do."

'I didn't feel safe. It was horrible. It was like leading lambs to the slaughter'

Lois was treated "like an animal" on the adult ward where she was sent after taking an overdose at the age of 16. Now 20, she said the experience will live with her for ever. "What I endured was a form of abuse," she said. "I didn't feel safe. I was sexually harassed and physically assaulted. It was horrible - these people were severely unwell. It was like leading lambs to the slaughter."

One female patient believed Lois was possessed by the devil and would throw water over her. The bathroom was unisex and male patients stared at her when she took a shower.

She had planned to take her A-levels but no education was offered in the unit. "I ended up worse off than when I went in. I don't understand how young people's mental health just doesn't seem to matter."

How the 'IoS' stands up for the mentally ill

30 June 2002 'The treatment of the mentally ill that shames us all' The IoS launched its Mental Health Campaign amid wide condemnation of the proposed Mental Health Bill.

27 November 2005 'Teen Britain: The shocking truth' Psychiatrists warned that British teensface a mental-health meltdown, with ever more considering self-harm or suicide.

26 March 2006 'Madness: Britain's mental health timebomb' We exposed health authority plans to slash mental-health funding, stretching services to breaking point.

16 April 2006 'Prozac nation' The IoS unveiled a Britain in the grip of antidepressant dependence, with prescription rates of drugs such as Prozac up by more than 120 per cent in 10 years.

8 October 2006 'Campbell unspun' We revealed that Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's trusted communications chief, suffered from bouts of depression throughout his time at No 10.

What we demanded

Mentally ill people should have access to treatment when they need it. They should be able to make decisions about their care, and have the right to refuse treatment. They should not be detained unless they need treatment for their own benefit, or have committed a crime. Services should be more flexible and accessible.

What has been done

The original draft of the Bill was put on hold following the 'IoS' campaign and widespread opposition from mental health professionals and politicians of all parties. A coalition of peers defeated the Government and succeeded in amending the Bill in line with IoS demands and the wishes of experts.

What we want now

We want the Government to accept the changes made in the House of Lords to the Bill. These would improve the welfare of patients, prevent children from being placed on adult wards and stop hospitals being turned into jails. If it does not grant concessions on these key points it will squander a once-in-a-generation chance to radically improve care.

Interesting? Click here to explore further