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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A former police
officer, Piers Hunt, now of Napier, says the corporal who fatally shot a
17-year-old Waiouru Army cadet Grant Bain 23 years ago should have been
charged with manslaughter. Former detective
sergeant Hunt was called in to investigate the shooting of Grant Bain in
1981, and had wanted to charge Corporal Andrew Read with manslaughter. But in the end the
lesser charge of causing death by carelessly misusing a firearm had been laid
after his superiors over-ruled the more serious charge. "That's the sort
of charge you lay for a hunting-type incident." He said the charged man
had been "fooling around" with the rifle in the barracks. Mr Hunt was
non-committal on the question of an inquiry into "the whole
regime," saying he had put the case behind him. "I dealt with it
all then." Mr Hunt, who
interviewed and charged Read, said Read should have faced a charge of
manslaughter but his superior in the police, the late Detective Senior
Sergeant Rob Butler, would not allow it. "It was pretty
straightforward. Even if it was an accident, his use of the firearm [in
pointing it at Grant] was unlawful. "He did it as a
deliberate act. It wasn't two hunters climbing through a fence and the
firearm accidentally goes off." Mr Hunt said he was not
aware of any victims of alleged abuse, which is said to have taken place at
the Waiouru Cadet School. Te Awamutu brothers
Murray and Bruce Bain have fought for 23 years to get justice for their
younger brother. Bain was 17 when he was threatened with a loaded .223 rifle
and shot in the neck. Murray and Bruce said
they would never accept the fact that the cadet responsible had been charged
only with causing death by carelessly misusing a firearm. They said Read, also
aged 17, had threatened Bain. Bain had pushed the gun away, and it had
discharged. Police charged Read with careless use of a firearm. He had
pleaded guilty and received a $200 fine and 200 hours' community service. His community service
was done at the Waiouru Army golf course and Read faced no other disciplinary
action. But Bain's brothers
have always said the Army covered up their brother's death. Today, Defence Minister
Mark Burton has ordered a preliminary inquiry into allegations of physical
and sexual abuse of army cadets. "This needs to be
looked at seriously and thoroughly, and that is what we will do," he
said. The allegations were
raised at the weekend by Ian Fraser, a former cadet, who said there had been
widespread "physical, psychological and sexual abuse" of cadets at
the Waiouru Cadet School from the the 1960s to 1980s |
