A MOTHER has criticised Thurrock Council for sending her severely autistic son to a secure care centre 247 miles away, where he was assaulted by a fellow resident.

Sarah Oakley, 37, of Mountfield Close, Stanford-le-Hope, shares custody of her teenage son with the council.

It was recommended by a child psychiatrist that he should be sent to a secure unit to stabilise his behaviour as he was deemed a serious risk to himself and others.

In August last year, her boy was sent to Barton Moss, a secure children’s care unit in Salford.

In May this year, the teenager was taken to hospital after he was assaulted by a fellow resident.

In a Channel 4 documentary, which aired last week, Ms Oakley reported that her son’s attacker was a convicted murderer.

She told the Gazette: “The worst thing about it all was my boy lying there in hospital and thinking his mum doesn’t love him because I couldn’t be with him. I was 247 miles away!

“I know he needed help, especially after he tried to jump out of a car on a motorway, but couldn’t they find a place closer to home?

“I didn’t even know the other kind of people that were housed in the unit until months afterwards.

“How could you send an autistic child to a place full of offenders that is on the other end of the country?”

A Thurrock Council spokesman said it wasn’t given any details on offences committed by any of the residents but acknowledged the majority of young people there would have a history of offending.

He said: “The council carried out a nationwide search to find a suitable secure unit.

“Due to the shortage of welfare beds in secure units, Barton Moss was the only vacancy.

“The council is aware there was an assault in the unit that required medical intervention and that it was followed by a full investigation of the circumstances.”

Her son has now been moved from Salford and is staying at a care unit in London.