WOODFORD GRN: Mother steps up campaign for 'justice' over son's disappearance

8:10am Wednesday 20th August 2008

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THE mother of an autistic schoolboy who went missing after being allowed out of a mental health unit is to take her "battle for justice" to Parliament.

James Wilson, 16, of Baddow Close in Woodford Green, disappeared after staff at Brookside Young Person’s Centre let him go out to a shop nearby unsupervised.

He found four days later in Colchester, Essex, following an extensive police search operation involving a helicopter and dozens of officers.

His mother, Lesh Wilson, says she is now hopeful of a Parliamentary inquiry into what happened when MPs reconvene from their summer break, but remains angry that she has still not received an apology from the centre.

“They have to pay for what they did to my son,” she said.

“But I’ve heard nothing from them. I can’t wait for the inquiry,” she added.

Meanwhile Redbridge MP Lee Scott has been in contact with the Secretary of State about the case, and has ordered a full report into what happened.

He said: “I want to get to the bottom of this. I will always have grave concerns if someone as vulnerable as he is can be allowed to wander off.

"I want to know exactly what the trust have to say about how it happened and what measures they are putting in to stop it from happening again.”

He added: “I am very surprised that an apology has not been forthcoming, it’s not an unreasonable thing to do.”

In further developments, conflicting reports of how James was found have since emerged.

Police initially said they tracked his location after he momentarily turned on his mobile phone.

But staff at a CCTV centre in Colchester told the Guardian they were the ones who found him by “chance” while they were observing another man drinking in public.

A recent crack-down in Colchester on drinking in public meant security staff were actively searching for people with alcohol when they spotted James talking with a man who was holding a beer can.

When police were alerted, they approached the pair and only then realised they had found James, said a spokesman.