Judge to decide if man with brain damage can visit sex workers

A judge is set to decide whether a man in his 30s who has brain damage can visit a sex worker.

The man has told a social worker that “romantic matters of the heart are not for him at the moment”.

He says he wants to visit a sex worker to have his sexual needs met.

Detail of the case emerged at a preliminary hearing in the Court of Protection, where issues relating to people who might lack the mental capacity to make decisions are considered, on Tuesday.

Mrs Justice Judd heard that the man, who was injured in an accident, lived in the community and had two carers.

The judge, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, was told how specialists had concluded that he had the mental capacity to engage in sexual relations but did not have the mental capacity to make decisions about contact with other people.

She said the man, who lives in the north of England, could not be identified in media reports of the case.

Lawyers representing a council responsible for the man’s care have begun litigation.

They want a judge to decide whether allowing the man to visit prostitutes would be in his best interest.

Barrister Susan McKendry, who is leading the council’s legal team, told the judge that the man had said he wanted to visit a sex worker.

She added: “Romantic matters of the heart are not for him at the moment.”

A judge is expected to make a decision later in the year.

In April, a senior judge ruled that care workers who helped vulnerable people to visit sex workers would not be breaking the law.

Mr Justice Hayden had considered another Court of Protection case, centred on a man in his 20s.

The judge said carers who facilitated adults with learning disabilities visiting sex workers would not be committing a criminal offence.

Mr Justice Hayden’s decision has been considered at a Court of Appeal hearing, but appeal judges have yet to deliver a ruling.