A mother has told of her heartache at her teenage robber son being handcuffed to a police officer as he lies semi-conscious fighting for his life in hospital.

Doctors told Sabah Arzoo Hussain, 42, that her son, Adneel, could die after a scan revealed an abscess on his brain.

Mrs Hussain said her 17-year-old son, who is in Wetherby Young Offenders Institution, had complained of headaches, nausea and weight loss for six weeks and had put in three requests to see a doctor.

She said it was only when his solicitor wrote to the institution that Adneel was seen and given antibiotics.

Mrs Hussain, of Burras Road, East Bowling, said Adneel had appeared before Bradford Crown Court on Friday, May 5, for an appeal hearing against his conviction for robbery, but had been so ill that he could not stand up.

The judge adjourned the case and Adneel was kept in the cells until that evening, when he was taken back to Wetherby. He collapsed the next morning and was taken to Harrogate District Hospital and then transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he underwent surgery and remained in a coma for four days.

Mrs Hussain, a mother-of-three, said: "When I got there the doctors were with him in the resuscitation room and he was covered in tubes.

"It was extremely distressing and when they told me he was not going to survive I collapsed."

Adneel, still not fully conscious and unable to walk, is always handcuffed to an officer.

His mother, a former care assistant, said: "I just can't see him in handcuffs, they are not necessary. The abscess is filling up again and the doctors have no idea where the infection is there is no way he can leave the hospital.

"They have still not told me whether he will make it. I am not disregarding the sentence, he is going to have to do his time, but I want them to take the handcuffs off and I want them to put him on licence."

William Higham, head of policy for charity the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Everything we have heard about this case calls out for further inquiry. The courts sentence people to prison to lose their liberty, not to suffer second-class healthcare.

"When people are seriously ill it is a matter of basic human decency to treat them and their family with consideration and respect, and it follows that whenever possible shackles should be avoided."

A Home Office spokesman said he was unable to comment on individual prisoners but said: "Caring for the health of all prisoners is an important part of the work of the Prison Service."

He said prisoners taken to an outside hospital remained in the custody of the Prison Service. "All outside prisoner movements are subject to a thorough risk assessment which will determine not only the appropriate level of staffing required but also, where necessary, the levels of restraint to be used.

"The risk assessment will consider amongst other things, the nature of the prisoner's offence, their physical capability to escape (either with or without outside assistance), and the risks that they pose to both hospital staff and the general public.

"All risk assessments must be regularly reviewed to take into account any changes in the prisoner's physical condition, or the general circumstances under which the escort is being conducted."

e-mail: saima.mir@bradford.newsquest.co.uk