AN INVESTIGATION has been launched by police and social services after the family of a profoundly disabled man claimed he came home from respite care with three toenails and a fingernail ripped out.

Jamie McManus, 30, has Down's syndrome and is unable to speak or use sign language. He lives with his parents, Eric and Valerie, in Parkstone, but spends a couple of days in respite care every few weeks to give them a break.

Last Monday he returned to his usual day centre after spending the weekend in respite care.

"When they brought him home about 4pm, we noticed his eye was badly bloodshot and his left little fingernail was missing," said Mrs McManus. "He looked very disorientated and was having to hang on to the wall for balance."

She and her husband checked Jamie's feet and discovered that both his big toenails and another toenail were missing.

"There was dried blood and someone at the day care centre had tried to bandage him for me. I always make sure I cut his nails before he goes into respite care, then nobody has any reason to touch them."

Mrs McManus contacted the respite care home and says she was told Jamie was all right when he left the premises. Staff at the day care centre have told her Jamie was already hurt when he arrived there.

She discounted any suggestion that the injuries could have been self-inflicted or accidental. "He must have been in agony," she said.

"On Monday and Tuesday Jamie kept smiling at me - he was happy because he was home. On Wednesday, he looked down at his feet and cried. He keeps bursting into tears every so often."

Mrs McManus, who has given a statement to the police, added that her son seemed frightened to go into the bathroom at home and had been diving straight under his bedcovers at night.

"I've always been frightened of leaving him, but I was happy because I thought my Jamie would be happy. Now I can't sleep or eat. It's doing my brain in," she said.

"I entrusted him to people I thought would watch over him just for a couple of days. How can we trust again? What sort of nightmare is he living and can't tell me?"

Dorset Police confirmed that Poole CID was looking into the incident.

Jan Thurgood, policy director for Poole social services, said: "We are fully investigating the circumstances of this situation as we would with any concerns raised of this type.

"At this time we are working with a number of other statutory agencies. As the investigation is ongoing we are not at liberty to comment further."