|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
I am the brother of
Cadet Grant Bain, the 17-year-old killed at Waiouru in 1981. Since Ian
Fraser's story about RF Cadet School abuse broke, we have seen a barrage of
coverage by all major New Zealand papers. By far the worst
reporting to date is that of Waikato Times reporter Tracey Cooper, a senior
cadet in Grant's year, who included his cadet school experiences in his
October 9 article. He also includes comments about his uncle, Tom Cooper. I was a cadet at
Waiouru before Tracey Cooper and can relate to his term of "gungy"
and events as he recalls them. But to write that "his (Grant's) death
had nothing to do with abuse or bullying" is so far off the mark that I
wonder how a person with such a naive view could ever be a reporter. Perhaps he should have
researched his story and read the court of inquiry report on events leading
up to Grant's death. They clearly detail a systematic regime of abuse from
senior cadets (Mr Cooper's classmates) that clearly led to individual cadet
NCOs trying to "out-do" each other in acts of intimidation against
junior cadets. Cadet Corporal Read obviously won the contest. The most appalling
section of the article was the claim that the Bain family lost their
composure at Grant's funeral. What a lot of rubbish.
I think my family has heard enough lies without some immature Waikato Times
reporter starting more. My mother was totally
devastated by Grant's death, but held her composure well during this very sad
funeral. The comments are an inexcusable slur on her character. Mr Cooper's only
agreeable comment was that his Uncle Tom was a good bloke. I served with Tom
Cooper in the NZ Army and it is a bloody shame his nephew will never be half
the man he was. |
