Family's desperate fight to have their 'high-risk' autistic son, 37, released from hospital ward where he has been locked away for SIX years

  • Ashley Peacock, 37, 'spends up to 23 hours a day alone in hospital ward'
  • Ashley has a mental illness, autism, and is intellectually disabled
  • His care costs taxpayers $750,000 a year 
  • Psychiatrist insists he's not in isolation, adding public safety was still a factor

By Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 00:21 EST, 8 February 2017 | Updated: 00:55 EST, 8 February 2017

An autistic, intellectually disabled man with a mental illness is stuck in an isolation ward for up to 23 hours a day - and it's costing taxpayers $750,000 a year.

Ashley Peacock, 37, has spent the past six years at Porirua Hospital, north-west Wellington, in New Zealand.

His parents, Marlena and David Peacock, have launched a public battle to have their son moved to a rural community.  

Ashley Peacock spends up to 23 hours a day in isolation at Porirua Hospital in New Zealand

Ashley Peacock spends up to 23 hours a day in isolation at Porirua Hospital in New Zealand

A parliamentary committee was told on Wednesday his care costs taxpayers $750,000 a year 

A parliamentary committee was told on Wednesday his care costs taxpayers $750,000 a year 

The Capital and Coast District Health Board confirmed the $750,000 annual expensive to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, stuff.co.nz reported. 

The United Nations and the Human Rights Commission have raised concerns about Mr Peacock's treatment as a patient under the Mental Health Act.

Supporters of Ashley and his parents have set up a Facebook page arguing that living in solitary confinement for extended periods is causing him post-traumatic stress disorder.

His mother Marlena said the confinement was traumatic for him.

'The experience of seclusion was so traumatic for him that it really made his life a lot harder,' she said in a documentary about her son which aired on the television program Attitude. 

His father David said anti-psychotic drugs would fail to work if he remained in isolation.

'That's why we're so adamant he has to get out of there,' he said.

Ashley Peacock (pictured with his father David) is the face of mental  health treatment

Ashley Peacock (pictured with his father David) is the face of mental  health treatment

Ashley Peacock has autism, a mild intellectual disability and mental illness 

Ashley Peacock has autism, a mild intellectual disability and mental illness 

Psychiatrist Susanna Every-Palmer told MPs Ashley was a 'high risk' patient with complex needs

Psychiatrist Susanna Every-Palmer told MPs Ashley was a 'high risk' patient with complex needs

But psychiatrist Dr Susanna Every-Palmer told the parliamentary hearing on Wednesday he was a 'high-risk' patient with complex needs.

'He is not in isolation. He is not in seclusion and we have to be aware of that because a lot of the commentary has focused on that,' she said, answering a question from Green Party MP Gareth Hughes.

Dr Every-Palmer, who has worked with Ashley's family but is not his doctor, said community care was a 'goal'  - provided that the public and his safety were guaranteed.

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