LONDON – A man with Down’s Syndrome has been awarded £10,000 compensation after social workers banned him from having sex with his wife.
The 38-year-old, who cannot be identified, won damages for breach of human rights after he was forced to abstain from sex for more than 15 months.
The man had enjoyed “normal conjugal relations” with his wife of five years until a consultant psychologist concluded he did not have the capacity to consent.
His wife moved into a spare bedroom after being told she would be committing a serious criminal offence if she had sex with her husband.
She also “significantly reduced any physical expressions of affection” so she would not “lead him on,” the Court of Protection heard.
But the man’s local council, which is in England but cannot be identified for legal reasons, failed to provide the sex education course for more than a year.
He was first assessed by a psychologist in late 2014 after the couple sought fertility treatment. They were told by letter to stop having sex in March 2015 and were warned they would be forced to live apart if they breached the ban.
“The consultant psychologist made it clear that [the man] needed a course of sex education to assist him to achieve the necessary capacity,” said High Court judge Sir Mark Hedley.
“For reasons that have never been satisfactorily explained, the local authority failed to implement that advice despite requests and protracted correspondence.” – The Independent (UK)
