Allegations of Abuse
in Institutions |
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Former patients of Lake Alice
psychiatric hospital who suffered abuse from staff in the 1970s are being
urged to join an extradition call against a former head of the unit. "We are calling one final
time for the children of Lake Alice to come forward," said the chief
executive of the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, Steve Green, last
night. While acknowledging that it will
be difficult for many to go public, he said the commission will support them
in bringing criminal charges against the abusers. Manawatu woman Sharyn Collis, one
of those claiming to have undergone "sadistic experiments" at Lake
Alice, also wants Selwyn Leeks, now in his 70s, brought back from Melbourne
where he has been practising for several years. "Bring him home," she
said yesterday. "Let the police have access to the material the
Australians have. Let him face criminal charges." Dr Leeks was to have faced 16
charges of unprofessional conduct at a hearing before the Medical
Practitioners Board of Victoria in Melbourne this week. However, he relinquished his
medical licence, effectively doing away with the need for the hearing. His summons would have capped a
five-year investigation of complaints by 50 former patients - 16 of whom are
thought to have cases he could be brought to answer. Ms Collis, who was admitted to
Lake Alice at the age of 14, said electro-convulsive therapy - electric shock
treatment - was used on children when they were both sedated and awake. "It was 1000 times worse than
an electric fence," she said. "They used it as a
punishment, and we were also punished by having to clean up the vomit and
urine left by those who had been given shocks." Children were often punished by being
shut in a huge dryer room that became so hot they usually passed out in 10 to
15 minutes, she said. Boys sometimes had their genitals
subjected to electric shocks. Children were frequently given
drugs that caused several localised pain. "I was not crazy when I went
in, but I think I might have been when I came out," she said. She and other patients were still
troubled by what they had experienced as children and some were
dysfunctional, suicidal and in and out of jail. In her own case, she turned to
drugs at one point in an attempt to make sense of what had happened to her. Mr Green described what was done
to the children as severely abusive. "It was horrific," he
said. "It makes me think of Nazi Germany. Those little kids had no
rights whatsoever and had to take whatever was done to them. "What they experienced
doesn't fit into medicine or psychiatry in any way." They had experienced what amounted
to medical assaults or criminal activity, he said, and if people come forward
with their evidence criminal charges can be brought. "Until that happens they
won't be able to find closure." In 2001, Prime Minister Helen
Clark apologised to 100 former patients for the way they were treated at Lake
Alice. Later, a second group was included
and the Government paid out $10.7 million in compensation to a total of 183
people. Mr Green and Ms Collis both
considered this action an admission that abuses took place. "If only those came forward
who received payouts, there would be sufficient evidence for criminal charges
to be brought," Mr Green said. At present, 34 cases have been
prepared in New Zealand. An estimated 400 passed through Lake Alice during
the 1970s. "Anyone who now feels they
can speak out about what happened to them can call us at 0800 777-555,"
he said. The adolescent unit of Lake Alice
closed in 1978 and Dr Leeks went overseas to Canada and Australia. Relinquishing his licence to
practice medicine has now made it difficult for him to practice elswhere. He
will need a certificate of good standing from the Victorian Board in order to
even be considered. A criminal inquiry into what went
on at Lake Alice is being headed by Christchurch Detective Superintendent
Malcolm Burgess. |