KB-2024-003148 Kristian Weston v Bristol City Council & Others

Rules for vulnerable autistics should apply to this case.

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My Struggles with Homelessness and the Broken System

For years, I have been trapped in a cycle of unstable housing, neglect, and systemic failure. Every place I’ve stayed has been unsuitable, worsening my misophonia to the point where I could no longer function. The noise drove me to despair, and after so many years of struggling, I stopped looking after myself. Now, my self-neglect has reached a critical point—it’s a choice between fighting this legal battle or not surviving at all.

Despite laws meant to protect vulnerable individuals like me, I’ve been repeatedly denied the basic accommodations I need. Councils demand medical evidence for my condition, yet the NHS refuses to provide it unless I pay over £1,000—despite having previously referred me to safeguarding. This has left me trapped in a bureaucratic limbo where I am not recognized as needing help, yet I am too unwell to sustain myself without it.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pushed me to the brink through a self-employment scheme that was impossible to fulfill. The NHS then failed me again when I sought help for my deteriorating mental health. They told me the crisis team would call within a week—I waited, but no call ever came. When I expressed frustration about this failure, I was labeled a threat simply for showing emotion. As a result, I was banned from seeing a doctor without armed police present for four years, leaving me without essential healthcare. Even my last doctor admitted this was ludicrous.

The government is not working in the interest of the people. Legal aid is underfunded, disability rights cases are deprioritized, and councils appear to be making desperate decisions about housing, using questionable companies and implementing rules designed to force people out rather than help them. The housing options presented to me are effectively ableist prisons—unsuitable for my misophonia, my COVID sensitivity, or my mental health.

Throughout this battle, I have faced repeated violations of the Equality Act, the Homelessness Reduction Act, the Autism Act, and the Care Act and various human rights. Yet, despite these laws being in place, councils and service providers routinely ignore their obligations. I had assumed that I could present my experiences in plain English, and the court would determine whether the law had been broken. But even accessing the evidence I need has been an uphill struggle, with defendants refusing to comply with Subject Access Requests (SARs) and ignoring my communications altogether.

This is more than just my story—it is a symptom of a broken system that fails the most vulnerable. If the rules meant to protect people like me were actually enforced, I would not be in this situation. I will continue to fight, because my survival depends on it.

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