Nowhere's safe for Steven

Boy, 6, at serious risk from eating compulsion, He needs somewhere to keep him from danger

- EMMA DUNN

A DESPERATE mum is pleading for help with her “Wreck-It Ralph" son, who has a rare condition that sees him destroying the house and eating his bedroom walls.

Leigh Murphy, 29, has to constantly monitor six-year-old Steven to stop him ingesting dangerous items around the house.

The youngster suffers from unusual eating disorder pica which causes cravings for inedible objects and was diagnosed with severe autism four months ago.

Steven eats sand, mud and his bedroom walls, even exposing electrical wires.

Loving parents Leigh and Steven snr, 28, live in a private rental property and have been pleading with North Lanarkshire Council for three years for a council home so they can adapt it for their son and give him somewhere safer to live.

They want to put padding in his bedroom so he can't eat the plaster, and fit a wet room as well as vents to make sure he has air to his room but cannot climb out.

Steven's destruction is so difficult to manage that it reminds his mum of the 2012 Disney animated film about a video game character who can't help but smash things up.

Leigh, from Cumbernauld, said: “We nickname him Wreck-It Ralph. In the living room we only have two couches and a telly that's it. In the kitchen everything is locked away.”

Leigh, a carer for Steven, added: "It's horrendous there is no safe space to put him.

“He destroys everything. He's so strong. He just knocks me over. It's terrifying. Where do we go from here? I'll walk in and he's got wires hanging out the wall.”