The parents of an autistic boy who was locked in a downstairs toilet by a care worker have settled their case against the HSE for €50,000. Susan Curran and Peter Berry, from Coolatree Park, Beaumont in Dublin, took the action against the woman and the HSE, claiming that she had falsely imprisoned the then 11-year-old boy and that the HSE failed to assess the suitability of the woman to care for the boy. The woman at the centre of the case was employed by the HSE to supervise the boy for 15 hours-a-week in her home. She had been caring for him for two-and-a-half years and his condition was such that he required adult supervision at all times. The boy's father said he saw the woman walking away from her house without the boy on May 3rd, 2005, and, when he drove to her home, she was returning and he saw her unlocking the toilet door under the stairs to release the 11-year-old. It was claimed he was in a very distressed state and that his behaviour was erratic in the months following the incident. The case settled for €50,000 today and afterwards the boys parents said the carer had been like family to them and they thought she was the nicest woman in the world.