Mother of disabled man kept in squalor reveals her desperate battle to save him

There is a recurrent theme to the treasured snaps that document the childhood of Tom Somerset-How.

It leaps out – whether it be in the joyous snapshot of a five-year old boy chuckling with laughter at the wheel of a plastic police car or in the impish expression worn in the more formal, but no less exuberant, image of an eight year old giggling in the gentle embrace of his twin sister.

Because whatever he is doing, wherever he is, when the camera is turned his way Tom’s face lights up in a broad, sunny smile.

It’s there when he is held aloft in the arms of his father John, on holiday in Budapest, Hungary, and it is still there, five years later as the whole Somerset-How family – John, mother Helen, older brother Ben and twin Kate, along with Tom in his wheelchair, line up with a waxwork model of Crocodile Dundee on a holiday visit to Universal Studios, in the USA.

A seven-year-old Tom Somerset-How is pictured beaming while hugging a person in a teddy bear costume in 1990

Tom Somerset-How aged 8 with sister Kate Somerset-Holmes in 1991

Tom Somerset-How aged 23 with dad John Somerset-How and mum Helen Somerset-How after Tom’s university graduation in 2006

As mum Helen warmly reflects: ‘As a child, Tom was always of such a sunny disposition, always giggling and chuckling about what was going on around him with his siblings.’

The fond reflections of a proud mother are underscored, however, by sadness. For Helen lives with the knowledge that in recent years glimpses of her beloved son’s trademark smile have been in short supply.

Tom, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was just seven months old, grew up to be an intelligent outgoing history graduate, now 40.

But, as readers may recall, he was the victim at the centre of a distressing court case which concluded earlier this month in which his ‘deceitful and adulterous’ wife Sarah Somerset-How and his carer (her lover) George Webb, were convicted of enslaving him.

For two years Tom, who needs 24-hour care, was barely kept alive at his specially-adapted bungalow, in Chichester, West Sussex, regarded as little more than a ‘cash cow’ while his wife and the man employed to care for him at his home treated him ‘like a piece of property’.

Kept in bed for 90 per cent of the time, only allowed to shower once a week, the treatment that was outlined to a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court over four weeks was appalling beyond belief.

Tom was forced to listen as the two people closest to him embarked on an affair, leaving him with crisps and a sandwich to eat and abandoning him for entire weekends.

The callous duo isolated Tom from his family, who were horrified when, together with social services, they staged a rescue and discovered the conditions in which he had been forced to live.

By the time they managed to gain entry to his home Tom’s weight had plummeted to less than seven stone, his hair was long and unwashed and his nails uncut.

Mercifully, the appalling catalogue of neglect and abuse was discovered and earlier this week that familiar smile again lit up Tom’s face as he spoke for the first time of his relief that there had finally been retribution for the ordeal he endured.

At his side was his mother Helen, a woman who must simmer with fury at all that her son has endured, but who is focused, quite rightly on her son’s wellbeing.

Tom Somerset-How aged 17 at his school prom left, while right, aged 20 with his sister Kate

Tom Somerset-How aged 10 with dad John, mum Helen and siblings Kate and Ben on holiday at Universal Studios in 1993

‘People out there will be thinking ‘where on Earth was the family when all of this was going on?’ Believe me, we were trying very hard,’ she says.

This is a woman who has fought for her son from the very start. The mother of three helmed a charity for children with cerebral palsy for 20 years, having embarked on a mission to help families like hers when Tom was just a tiny boy.

With another set of parents, Helen set up The Rainbow Centre for Conductive Education in 1990, a role that saw her awarded with an MBE.

Tom attended a special needs pre-school and primary school while he was a child, but when he was 12 his parents decided to transfer him to mainstream education.

He attended the highly-rated King’s School in Winchester, Hants, before moving to sixth form college in Southampton. A photograph of Tom, aged 17, wearing a red bow tie and smart tuxedo jacket for his school prom is testament to happy times.

‘Of course, he had his moments as all children do, but it was easy to make him laugh again,’ says Helen. ‘He was always eager to please. He was very sensitive, loving and considerate.

‘He never wanted to make a fuss or have special attention – any more than was necessary. He always wanted to make life as easy as possible for those around him.

‘In his teen years, he spent his evenings online and made many friends around the world, usually listening to their problems and trying to counsel them.

‘He always wanted to make the world a better place for his friends and loved ones.’

Life with a complex disability was inevitably not all plain sailing.

As Helen says, he did all this while ‘writing some dark poetry which gave me an insight into the personal struggle he himself was having around living with his disability.’

His parents were, however, as thrilled as he was when he got into Chichester University to study history.

As his twin sister – whose blonde hair and fine features are strikingly similar to his own – embarked on her own path to becoming a West End actress (Kate has appeared on screen in Holby City and Silent Witness) – Tom was forging his own path, although remained close to his twin.

Tom Somerset-How (pictured with his mum Helen) today told of his satisfaction that he’s gained ‘retribution’ and the couple who enslaved him are now languishing in a’ dark cell’

‘We were delighted that he got into university, not necessarily for the academic achievement, although of course, we were hugely proud of that, but more for the opportunity for him to experience normal student life,’ says Helen.

‘Still, he desperately wanted to meet someone to love, and who would see and love him for who he was – someone who would see past his disability.’

At the time Tom met the woman he would marry, he was living in sheltered accommodation and recovering from surgery.

Over the years, this gentle-natured man has undergone multiple gruelling procedures – hip surgery, eye operations and wrist surgery.

It was after enduring nine hours of spinal surgery that he was introduced to Sarah through a friend.

‘Sarah was actually really lovely,’ he said earlier this week, his emphasis on the past tense. ‘I don’t go for physical attractiveness, I just want them to love and see me as I am.’

In 2010, they moved into a purpose-built bungalow in Chichester, West Sussex, and had 24-hour care paid for by social services during the week, with his wife providing weekend cover.

The couple married in 2012.

Tom’s own bewilderment at what once was and what came later is matched by his mother’s, who says simply: ‘He met Sarah and had five blissful years before things went so dreadfully wrong.’

In court, a distressing picture of how the seeds that led to a once-vibrant man became enslaved by those closest to him were sown with the arrival of ‘carer’ (if such a word is even appropriate in the circumstances) Webb, who was working for healthcare agency NursePlus, in 2016.

The three lived under the same roof.

This then transitioned into private care, paid for by Tom at a rate of £4,000 a month.

By 2018, the court heard, a pattern of abuse had begun. Tom himself gave evidence, as did his sister Kate Somerset-Holmes, who played Miss Hannigan in the West End production of Annie.

Kate told the court how in 2018 she knocked at the door of her brother’s, twice a day for five days, but no one ever came to the door and the curtains would be shut ‘all day’.

Sarah Somerset-How and George Webb pictured outside Portsmouth Crown Court during their slavery trial 

Tom is now living in residential accommodation after being taken away from his abusers

Tom is pictured right in December 2018, while left, his wheelchair photographed by his mum is seen stacked with clothes and other items at the home he shared with his abusive wife

An image from 2018 shows Tom in bed with a Manchester United shirt on, unshaven, with long hair, and without his glasses

Describing how she gained access, she told the court: ‘I parked down the road and knocked on the door. George opened it, and this was the first time I had ever seen him.

‘I explained I was going away for a while and had a Christmas present for Tom.

‘He was reluctant. I tried to be persuasive and polite, and he let me in – I was very surprised.

‘I knew that no one in my family had seen Tom in two years.

‘My first impression of the house was that it was squalid. It smelt very strongly of cigarettes and marijuana. The house was dim, and the curtains were closed.’

What she found was distressing – her own photographs, coupled with those taken two years later by her mother becoming heartrending evidence in the court case.

‘Tom smelt terrible, like he hadn’t been washed in weeks. I asked him if he had an accident in bed because it smelt of urine, but he didn’t know.

‘Tom was very, very thin. His nails were long, and his hair was greasy. He hadn’t been shaved in weeks. I asked if he was okay, but he obviously wasn’t. In hindsight, that was a silly question. It was disgusting.

‘I told him Simon – my husband – was outside and said we could leave, we could go right now. But he kept repeating, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine’.’

Repeatedly, Tom’s family were rebuffed.

One can only imagine how upsetting the knowledge of what was going on must be to Tom’s family.

As Helen said earlier his week: ‘They would smarten him up. Give him a haircut, a shower and so on. So we began to think everything was okay.

‘When we asked Tom he would say ‘yes, yes, I’m fine, I’m fine.’ But Sarah was always there. Always there making sure she was in control of the situation.’

It was in 2020 that Tom’s own distress and determination precipitated the unravelling of the whole sorry mess. He contacted a friend, who alerted Tom’s parents, at which point a rescue was co-ordinated, involving both police and social services.

Now living in residential accommodation, he is, understandably haunted by what he endured.

Tom Somerset-How aged 20 and Kate Somerset-Holmes in 2003

Tom with his mother, Helen Somerset-How – who was made an MBE for setting up a charity for children with cerebral palsy – and sister, Holby City actress Kate Somerset-Holmes

‘It would be great if I could go back to the house, but also it holds so many memories,’ he says.

‘I don’t sleep anymore. I was in a dark room all the time with just a bedside table lamp. I tried to sleep in complete darkness when I got out but I couldn’t.

‘I sleep only three of four hours a night before waking up. It’s because I spent those four years too scared to sleep. I didn’t feel safe.

‘Psychologically, I can’t trust anyone at face value anymore. I’m just thinking ‘what’s your agenda?’

‘My family has been amazing. I’m very lucky that I have very close friends too. They said they felt guilty and they’re never letting me out of their sight again. I appreciate it. I know there are multiple people watching my back.’

How relieved that family must be that this resilient man is able to begin reclaiming the freedom that was so cruelly taken from him.