Firstly, as you know from my previous posts, I was summoned to appear at the Magistrates' Court yesterday on a charge of 'being a public nuisance' at a time when I was being attacked by my assailant. All I had been told in the official papers was that if I pleaded guilty, there would be a sentence passed. Not guilty would refer it for trial.

What the police did not tell me in the official papers was that if I pleaded not guilty, I was then expected to be able to outline to the Magistrates Court the whole nature of my defence and the evidence I wished to produce. For this I was not prepared and a problem for anyone with autism. I was also not prepared as a victim to be subjected to a bail condition that I should not be approaching my assailant!

More immediately distressing was that while sitting outside the court waiting to be called, my father realised the assailant in question, was now walking towards me. As he reached us, he deliberately chose to walk right alongside us within touching distance, coughing loudly as he did to make sure I was aware that he was there.

This instituted a serious nervous attack in me, and it was only with some difficulty that we arranged transfer to a different court in a different part of the building. The politeness and willingness of the court staff to understand and assist contrasts hugely with the attitude of the police. I was on the brink of an autistic meltdown and trying to walk out of the court. I was luckily restrained enough by my father not to do so, else I would have been arrested for that too. 3 diazepam later, I was able to go through with the hearing, but was left shaken and trembling for the rest of the day.

No one should deliberately place an assailant and his victim in court at the same time, especially with a long history of attacks.

I really don't know whether this was incompetence or deliberate malice by someone within the force.