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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A pervasive culture of
abuse existed at the Waiouru Army Cadet School but it was never fully
investigated, says the man who headed an inquiry into a cadet's fatal
shooting. Graham Beddie, a major
at the time, was president of the court of inquiry into the shooting of cadet
Grant Bain. Bain was shot on
February 13, 1981, by a senior cadet, Corporal Andrew William Read. In the course of the
inquiry, Mr Beddie said, he learned of other cases of abuse but his brief did
not allow their investigation. Read, 17, was charged
with careless use of a firearm, sentenced to 200 hours community service and
given a $200 fine. It also emerged
yesterday that Read carried his guilt for the rest of his life. "Andy always felt
guilty about it and he lived for 17 years with that guilt. I feel sorry for
the [Bain] family, of course," his brother told the Herald. Mr Beddie said his
inquiry found an understaffed school which had a pervasive culture of
violence, which he believed little was done about. A lieutenant colonel by
the time he left the Army, Mr Beddie said the same day Bain was killed a
senior NCO had lined up a platoon of soldiers and ordered them to kick a
cadet. The cadet was told to
"assume the position" - a common term used at the school where
cadets would bend over and be kicked. He said the cadet went
to Captain Timothy Rabbidge, who took him to hospital. Mr Beddie said he
could not believe Read was not charged with Bain's manslaughter. His inquiry found Read
had taken ammunition from the range a number of times and had been involved
in other assault incidents. Read was involved in at
least one other assault where he had punched a cadet a number of times, and
four hours before Read shot Bain he had fired at another cadet but had
modified the ammunition so it only peppered the cadet with gunpowder. "I felt justice
was not done. I still, to this day, feel very bad about it." Mr Beddie said a court
of inquiry would normally be held to investigate a case and recommend charges
but at the start of Read's inquiry he was told Read had been dealt with by
the court and to "leave it alone". He said the terms of
the inquiry did not include investigating other abuse of cadets though abuse
was uncovered. Mr Beddie said he told
the officer in charge of the Army schools, Colonel Brian Monk, the assaults
he uncovered needed to be investigated further. Mr Monk said a further
investigation would be done but Mr Beddie said his impression was "not a
lot was done". He has welcomed the
announcement from Defence Minister Mark Burton of a full inquiry into alleged
abuse at the school between 1960 and 1980. If the abuse went on
until the 1980s it was clear his inquiry changed nothing, Mr Beddie said. Meanwhile, a captain at
the school, Timothy Rabbidge, has told the Herald he recalled taking a cadet
to the Waiouru base hospital with injuries the night Bain was killed, adding
he tried many times to stop "quite brutal" bullying. "It was regular
and systematic and my sergeant-major and I tried our very best to stop
it," he said. He said he had tried to
persuade the school's commanding officer at the time, Wayne Anker, to clamp
down on bullying. Mr Rabbidge said he
kept a close eye on Read "because I knew he was a bully, but he wasn't
the only bully". In an interview with
the Herald yesterday, Read's younger brother recalled that his brother had a
'hell of a shock' at the age of 17. "He [Andrew] was
obviously a fool. When you do things in life you pay the price." Mr Read, who declined
to be fully named, said his brother was a good person but had a rebellious
streak. "I remember the
day I found out. I was chopping wood with my dad and the police came down and
said he's accidentally shot someone." He said his family had always seen
the shooting as an accident and it had affected Read deeply. Read died in a
logging accident in 1998. |
