Trinity Mirror Midlands
A furious dad is keeping his 11-year-old son, who is autistic, at home after he went missing from the 'safe and secure' Lindsworth School three times in as many weeks.
Metal worker Martin Breakwell from Yardley, Birmingham, describes his son Ryan as being a 'severely autistic' boy with Asperger Syndrome and ADHD.
He claims Ryan went missing early in September, then on another occasion where he was found in a phone box two miles away phoning the police for help, and, most recently, last Tuesday, where he turned up in an estate agents' office.
He said the school took 'the best part of two hours' to realise he was missing on September 18.
Martin, 42, said the school had been recommended to him by the education department because it would be 'safe and secure' for Ryan.
The dad of seven says he has now lost faith in the school's ability to keep his son safe, and says he is going to keep him at home until he can be found a place at another school.
The headteacher of Lindsworth school, David McMahon, told the Birmingham Mail that all correct procedures had been followed on the occasions Ryan left the premises, and that his school, which caters for students who have had problems at other schools, had stringent safeguarding policies.
He also insisted that Ryan's dad had been contacted as soon as it was discovered he was missing.
Ryan's needs are now reportedly being assessed to help find him a new school.
How worrying for Ryan's parents? Anything could have happened in those two hours!