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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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An organisation encouraging
former Lake Alice Hospital patients to complain to police about a
psychiatrist they say abused them is heartened by an Australian court
decision against him. The Melbourne County
Court has awarded $55,000 in damages to a woman who complained Selwyn Leeks
sexually abused her while she was his patient in 1979-1980. Dr Leeks worked at the
now-closed Lake Alice Hospital near Bulls between 1972 and 1977. In 2001 the
Government paid $10.7 million in compensation to 100 patients for their
treatment during that period. Since leaving New
Zealand in 1977 Dr Leeks has worked as a psychiatrist in Australia and
Canada. In May, he surrendered his licence after 50 complaints against him in
Australia. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which instigated complaints
from New Zealand, said: "This is extra evidence that what Dr Leeks was
doing was not medicine." |
