Kathleen Danby, 72, was jailed for three months by a secret Court of Protection when she was seen hugging the granddaughter she had been banned from making contact with.
The teenager, who is 18 years old and has learning difficulties, apparently finds it hard to control her anger, has self-harmed and frequently runs away. Social workers believe that her distress increases when she is contacted by her father or grandmother, so Judge Cardinal imposed a ban on her being in contact with either of her relatives.
Mrs. Danby was caught on CCTV giving her granddaughter a hug outside a pub. She said:
“She is 18 and can decide for herself what she wants to do, she is being denied her human rights.
“She has the educational standards of somebody half her age, and behaves like a much younger child, but she is completely lucid in what she wants.”
The teenager was moved into care when she was 11 years old after her father was convicted for ill-treatment when he restrained her from running across a road during a temper tantrum, according to Mrs. Danby. She also added that her granddaughter was in a care home against her will and had run away 175 times.
