A District Commander has responded to an online video which shows a “severely autistic” teenager being carried out of a shop in Lisburn following an incident involving a £2 DVD.

Eileen Mitchell’s video of the incident, which happened in Lisburn, has gone viral in a few short hours.

She recorded the footage as sister Katie (19) – who is non-verbal and formerly of Ceara Special School in Lurgan – was removed from the CEX buy and sell entertainment outlet in Lisburn.

Superintendent Kelly Moore said: “We are aware of video footage which is circulating on social media in which officers are seen to be carrying a female from a shop.
“Police were called by the female’s mother to provide assistance in the Bow Street area of Lisburn at 6.15pm on Sunday, December 22.

“The shop was closing its shutters when a female entered the premises. Officers attended and after discussions with family and staff members for approximately 20 minutes, a 19-year-old female with complex needs was removed from the shop by a family member, assisted by police. One officer was injured during the course of the incident.

“This was a very difficult and complex set of circumstances for everyone involved and I have spoken to the family today to discuss their concerns. As an organisation we are committed to continuous learning and any feedback will be reviewed and considered. Our officers are routinely called to challenging situations and as in this case we will always seek a patient approach when dealing with people with complex needs.
“The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has been notified of this incident not because there is any suspected criminality or inappropriate behaviour which would justify disciplinary proceedings but owing to the widespread public concern and media attention surrounding the release of a short video clip of a few seconds of this incident.”

by BuggityBooger

16 comments

  1. So the shop was closed/closing. The family were the ones who called the police. It was a family member who suggested physically removing her, and the peelers assisted him in doing so.

    The sister is sharing a short clip and causing a fuss to support her narrative without the rest of the family.

    A 19 year old girl is not a child, and has injured one of the officers who was there.

    Shit show all round, but a great stick to beat the peelers with.

  3. Think this kid has more than just autism reading this, aight i’ll put my hands up fairplay to the staff then with this fuller context, the ‘lead’ comment was cunty, but they shouldn’t have walked in after the store had closed.

    The bigger issue is there aren’t enough resources for people with this level of issues, we dont have care homes for them (and make no mistake we genuinely should have a discussion more about care homes for people with this level of neurological disorders) and they are thrown onto family members who genuinely cant cope, someone gets hurt everyone acts shocked and the loop continues.

    edit- a history of violence as well? this sounds like a person with a lot of co-morbid disorders, sad case all around

  4. 20 minutes and the best they could come up with was dragging the girl out by the arms and legs, genius.

  5. You know, I was gonna say on the other post there isn’t enough context and even with this we don’t get the full picture. Definitely would question the original post more now

  6. Sell the DVD for £2. Take barcode off case and scan it in the morning. Job done.

  7. So according to her sister the police were trying to twist her arm, yet one of the police officers was injured. The whole thing makes no sense but the narrative from the family is very odd to me. They called the police, who spoke to them for 20 mins. But somehow the police are the bad guys? What were the family doing? Looks like major shit stirring to me

  8. Seems like the sister is being fast and loose with the truth to suit her narrative

  9. Why does being autistic give you free reign to do whatever you want

  10. The Police keep on being called upon to act as social workers or special needs workers. They try their best but they aren’t experts. But it’s clear these actions were taken under agreement or instruction from the girls mother.

  11. I waited and reserved judgement on this one because as someone that works in retail, it doesn’t get this bad that the police need to be called to forcibly remove someone.

    And as usual, no initial context was posted with the video itself, so it’s hearsay at this point.

    It was handled poorly by all parties involved but as usual, typical Facebook lynch mobs at it again, which is exactly why I don’t use social media anymore.

  12. I normally respect the police for family reasons but this is horrible 

  13. Parents took her to store when closing time , not part of the child’s routine parents then phoned psni when staff explained tills where closed store closing , child Katie got upset when psni arrived all refused to leave and wanted dvd ..sorry that ridiculous the parents are dicks ..film shows shutters down ..if psni dragged child , they carried her , this is absurd and I’m certainly not a psni fan .
    Cex has a quiet hour for autism , parents went in at closing time , parents phoned psni because quote they would be more understanding my child would want ..read that again, want not need , parents expected and wanted , not child that’s shouted read what they said ..gives disabled a bad name and no minimum wage shop worker should have to put money in till or work endless hours because someone is disabled and should keep open to keep them happy, parents abuse and demand staff that’s their issue and horrible so many people are not saying shop staff , child and even psni being exploited, so walk into a shop claim disabled, so shop staff , they have to do anything ?? Ridiculous

  14. So much bs in the comments here from people who fail to understand how profoundly disabled this girl is. She’s non-verbal and unable to comprehend what was going on.

    Even if the police didn’t arrive and remove her. Her parents (who are older) would have had to spend the next hour trying to prevent her from hurting herself while in a state of breakdown.

    All this could have been avoided with a little understanding from the shop staff. Hold onto the dvd sleeve and scan it the next day.

    The ignorance from some of the comments here is exactly why her sister shared the video in the first place

  15. Almost as if the family are actually the bad guys here

  16. When I looked at the Facebook page and saw the had recently been on the new complaining about the child’s school as well, I knew something was wrong. I believe the sister is constantly complaining and seeking attention.

Comments are closed.