Noel Titheradge

Ten families are suing the trust that formerly ran Whitefield School and Waltham Forest Council over the alleged false imprisonment, abuse and human-rights violations of children in the school’s calming rooms. BBC-obtained CCTV showed autistic and otherwise disabled children being forcibly confined, restrained and left in degrading conditions between 2014 and 2017. A council-commissioned review found that restraint and seclusion had become normalised, while a police investigation ended without charges. The families, Leigh Day and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation say existing government safeguards are inadequate and want stronger protections, including mandatory CCTV. The Department for Education called the events horrific, said guidance had been revised and pledged to respond to the safeguarding review; the current school trust says it is transforming the school.

Ten families are suing the trust that formerly ran Whitefield School and Waltham Forest Council, alleging that autistic children and other pupils with learning disabilities or mental disorders were falsely imprisoned and subjected to human-rights breaches in calming rooms. BBC-obtained CCTV showed children being shoved, restrained, left in distress and, in one case, sitting in vomit. A council-commissioned review found that restraint and seclusion had become normalised and that staff held pejorative views of non-compliant children. The Department for Education has revised guidance and introduced recording and reporting duties, but families and disability advocates say these measures are inadequate and that mandatory CCTV and stronger safeguards are needed.