A HEARTBROKEN mother has vowed to seek justice for her disabled teenage son who died after collapsing at a mental health hospital he had been sent to miles away from his family.

Thomas Rawnsley, 19, who suffered Down's Syndrome, died last week after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the specialist unit in Sheffield where he had been moved to last summer against his family's wishes.

Bradford Council's Social Services and Bradford District Care Trust had said at the time it had no other care option in Bradford for him but Thomas's parents Paula and Paul Rawnsley have been battling ever since to bring him back under a specialist care package.

They claim at a safeguarding meeting with Bradford Council's assistant director for adult and community services Lyn Sowray only last month they had warned officials of their fears for their son but say their desperate pleas fell on deaf ears.

Mrs Rawnsley, of Wibsey, said: "Out of sight, out of mind.

"They and all the other authorities involved in Thomas's so-called care failed him. We are bringing him home now at last but not how we wanted to. We are bringing him home to bury him."

Last June a plan to put Thomas in his own supported flat in Bradford, instead of sending him fromLynfield Mount Hospital to a care unit in Peterborough, fell through and his family was told a special unit in Sheffield was the only option despite an independent panel recommending a local care plan should be developed closer to home instead.

His family have been told Thomas suffered a sharp drop in his oxygen levels causing the cardiac arrest and swelling of his brain last week.

He was taken to Sheffield's Northern General Hospital and died last Wednesday - two days after he was admitted.

South Yorkshire Police found there were no suspicious circumstances but there will be an inquest.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage as inquiries are taking place. We are in contact with the family advocate and other agencies involved."

Formal inquiries are also being carried at NHS Bradford Districts Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Mrs Rawnsley has had previous concerns about her son's treatment which included claims of over-medication of anti-psychotic drugs and him being left naked in the corridors at Lynfield Mount psychiatric hospital in Bradford.

Thomas had also been ill-treated two years ago while he was resident at Norcott House, Liversedge, by a care worker who threatened to break his fingers.

A judge at Leeds Crown Court later sentenced the care worker to a suspended jail sentence and 200 hours unpaid community service.

Thomas's funeral will be held at St Paul's Church in Wibsey on February 19, followed by burial at North Bierley Cemetery.

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