This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A high court judge has criticised Liverpool council over its “atrocious” treatment of a severely traumatised girl with autism who injured nine nurses on an NHS ward.

The 15-year-old, identified as R, was said to have post-traumatic stress disorder from living in a war zone in Iraq for several years.

The girl had been at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool for several months while the city council tried to find her a long-term care placement.

The judge, Mr Justice Hayden, was told she came across a shrine to Alfie Evans – the toddler who died at the hospital from a brain disease in April – and it triggered a “breakdown and assault” of Alder Hey staff.

Alfie Evans dies at Alder Hey hospital after life support withdrawn Read more

Nine nurses and a security guard were injured during the incident, which resulted in six staff members having to take sick leave and another resigning.

Michael Mylonas QC for Alder Hey Children’s NHS foundation trust told the judge her condition “has been exacerbated precisely because of her treatment by social services”. He said R became “fixated” on thinking she would die at Alder Hey after seeing Alfie’s shrine in the hospital’s grounds.

Hayden said the failure to find the girl an appropriate placement was causing her harm and “actually preventing sick children from being treated”.

He said R had been subjected to “really profound physical and emotional harm” and “the state, from whom she was entitled to expect care and support, has caused her significant harm”.

“It is difficult to imagine a situation more horrific,” he said.

“The fact is what has been happening here is little short of atrocious. The public have an interest in knowing so and it must never happen again.”

Mark Twomey QC for Liverpool city council told the judge an alternative placement had been found for the teenager, but it would not be ready for another two weeks.

A council spokesman said: “Intensive and specialised support and care is needed for this child and it has taken much longer than all parties would have wished to identify a suitable placement to meet her specific needs.

“There has been an extensive UK-wide search for a therapeutic placement, as all of those involved have been extremely concerned about the length of time the child has been in Alder Hey.

“A bespoke placement, which includes specialist training for those who will care for her, is in the process of being created.”