Maajid Nawaz Left Speechless By Caller Who Was Abused And Drugged As A Child 'In Care'

18 May 2019, 16:07 | Updated: 18 May 2019, 16:23

Warning: This video contains details some people may find upsetting.

Maajid Nawaz was left speechless by this caller who relived a moment from his childhood where he was strapped to a bed and sedated whilst in the care of the state.

John told the LBC presenter how at 10-years-old he was taken into state care, and routinely restrained and drugged.

"I was taken into care because my parents were physically abusing me and whilst I was in a care home I was constantly running away," he started.

But describing the moment he was taken to a different facility, the caller started to become emotional.

"I was grabbed and I started to struggle, and they threw me on the floor and I was dragged into a side room.

"And then they started to pull down my trousers, and I didn't have a clue what was going on.

"I didn't know if they were going to rape me, I was crying my eyes out."

John then describes the moment he was injected and drugged with sedatives, before being strapped to a bed in a locked room and passing out.

"The majority of people here were not mentally ill, it was that they were difficult in the care system," he said.

Listen to his emotional story in full in the video above.

His story comes as two reports are expected to say that children with learning disabilities are being detained and subjected to chemical and physical restraints.

A report by the Care Quality Commission is expected to reveal children are being subjected to prolonged periods of seclusion and segregation in mental health wards.

Meanwhile a separate report by the Children's Commissioner is to say that in a single month last year 75 children were restrained more than 800 times.

Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, said that almost 1,500 children in England are "locked up" in secure children's homes, Young Offender Institutions, and mental health wards.

Former Care Minister Norman Lamb told The Times newspaper that the situation was an "ongoing scandal", and that "serious child abuse is endemic in the system and the government is complicit in that child abuse."

If you identify with the topics raised in this article, we encourage you to reach out to the Samaritans. You can call them for free on 116 123, or visit their website, www.samaritans.org.