AN autistic man held in a locked room at a secure hospital for 21 years is to move near his parents — and wants to celebrate by having a cheese roll.
Tony Hickmott, 45, was sectioned after a mental health crisis in 2001.
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Last year, a senior judge criticised his detention in a Kent unit 120 miles from his parents.
He will now be cared for at a bungalow five miles away in Brighton.
Dad Roy, 82, said: “He wants to go to the pub.
“Last time we went he was 18 and had a cheese roll.
“That’s what he wants.
“It will be heaven.”
Mum Pamela, 78, added: “Tony hasn’t had any treatment for his autism in all that time.
“It’s shocking.
“It has been a long road but we’re delighted he’ll be back.”
Tony is among 100 people with learning disabilities found to have been held in specialist hospitals for 20 years or more.