SINCE stepping down as editor of The Northern Echo almost two years ago, it has been a pleasure to work with several community organisations and charities which carry out invaluable work here in the North-East.

They include the North East Autism Society (NEAS), which supports more than 2,000 families who are affected by autism – providing care in our region for children and adults, as well as education, training, respite for families, and routes into work.

It is about understanding that people are different, with different needs, and different abilities. In the most extreme cases, it is about giving them a safe place in the world when, otherwise, they would have nowhere.

Working with autistic people requires dedication, skill, patience, and understanding, and I have huge admiration for those I’ve seen displaying those qualities in abundance. So, having gained an insight into the world of autism, I found myself incensed by a scandal which has emerged in Somerset.

People with autism, living in a care home called Mendip House, were found to have been bullied, taunted, and humiliated in the most degrading ways.

The home is run by the National Autistic Society (NAS), which has no connection to the North-East Autism Society, though there may be understandable confusion.

NAS is the “flagship” organisation for autism care in this country – and yet an official review by the Somerset Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) into what happened at Mendip House makes sickening reading.

Residents regularly suffered physical and mental abuse, including being pushed, slapped, ridiculed and made to walk on all fours. A staff member was said to have put a ribbon round a resident’s neck and ridden him like a horse. A vulnerable man was repeatedly thrown into a swimming pool. Residents had cake thrown at them, crayons were put in their drinks, and they were forced to eat chillies. Inspectors found residents had been funding staff meals during outings, with £10,000 having to be reimbursed. Staff also dealt drugs on the premises and one employee “couldn’t be bothered” to take residents out because he was busy on a PlayStation. It goes on and on.

Whistleblowers had tried several times to raise concerns in November 2014 but NAS held its own internal investigations without following established procedures. Despite finding plenty of evidence of “degradation” it failed to alert the Care Quality Commission (CQC) or the local authority.

Eventually, an anonymous tip-off led to the home being closed in 2016 and the official report has now been published. NAS has apologised and the CQC has also accepted it should have acted with greater urgency.

Utterly sickening. And yet, unbelievably, no one will be prosecuted and there are to be no sanctions against the National Autistic Society or the Care Quality Commission. The staff directly responsible have been sacked but there is “insufficient evidence” to bring criminal prosecutions. The victims are too vulnerable to give credible evidence.

Richard Crompton, Independent chairman of the SSAB, said this: “These reviews are not about apportioning blame. They are about making sure lessons are learned.”

Ah, yes – let’s make sure lessons are learned. Similar platitudes have been made many times before, of course. Like in 2012 when the BBC’s Panorama exposed the abuse of people with learning difficulties at Winterbourne View, a residential home near Bristol. A former nurse had alerted bosses and the CQC but his concerns were ignored.

Unlike the Winterbourne View case, in which public outrage was fuelled by horrific footage from undercover TV cameras, there has been a surprising lack of national anger over what happened at Mendip House. The story has been covered but where’s the anger? Why isn’t the media demanding further action over such a desperate scandal? The supposed flagship body for autism care in this country – the alleged arbiters of good practice and sellers of training accreditations – has hideously failed the vulnerable people it was supposed to be protecting. The watchdog organisation that oversees it has also been found wanting. And yet nothing is to be done. Absolutely nothing.

How can that be right?

The revelations about film producer Harvey Weinstein led to the “Me too” movement to put an end to the sexual exploitation of women. The same now needs to happen to draw a line under the systematic exploitation of the disabled. From the smallest to the largest organisation, there must be transparency and accountability.

Mendip House is the latest in a long line of scandals and it shows yet again that cruelty isn’t being stamped on hard enough. It’s time to shout loudly for change.