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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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The government faces
the prospect of a flood of compensation claims from army cadets abused at
Waiouru after the findings of an independent report. The process has started
with the filing of a $400,000 compensation claim by a Christchurch man who
says he was abused 30 years ago. The lawyer involved
received a second inquiry at his Wellington office on Friday. Retired High Court
Justice David Morris interviewed more than 80 former cadets during his
inquiry. But since the abuse was made public last year by Ian Fraser, who now
lives in Perth, about 350 other cadets have come forward with abuse
complaints. "I would be
surprised if what Justice Morris was told was everything there was to
tell," said lawyer Roger Chapman, who has filed the first claim. He believes that as the
claims are lodged, lawyers involved should pool resources, and share
information on what settlement levels may be achievable. Chapman and his firm,
Johnston Lawrence, have been involved in several cases with large groups of
claimants, and he believes the combined approach offers the best hope of
getting an overall settlement from the Government rather than going to court
case by case. Chapman believes cadets
who had kept quiet about the abuse because they were too frightened at the
time or thought no one would believe them, may be encouraged by the contents
of the report to come forward. "From what people
were saying, one would think there is certainly a basis for some of them
taking legal action if they want to do it," he said. "No doubt
there are some people who have been psychologically very badly damaged by
this, others who have taken it more or less in their stride. It depends to
some extent on the make-up on the individual." Defence Minister Phil
Goff steered clear of the question of compensation when the report was
released, and suggested that people who wished to take action should make
complaints to the police so criminal prosecutions could be considered. His office is unable to
say how many copies of Morris's report have been obtained by people who could
be considering legal action. When it was issued, it was placed as a link on
his office's website and it is not known how many "hits" there have
been on the link. The report found that a
cadet who shot and killed fellow cadet Grant Bain should have been charged
with manslaughter rather than a firearms offence. The report has been
criticised for its finding that although abuses and bullying occurred at the
Waiouru Regular Force Cadet School, which operated from 1948 to 1991, there
was no culture of violence. Critics have pointed to
the repeated and long-term nature of the abuses - allegedly carried out or
ordered by second year cadets. Morris declined a
request from the Sunday Star-Times to be interviewed on his findings. He was appointed to the
inquiry a year ago, having retired after a colourful career. He had been
involved in several inquiries, including the National Women's Hospital
cervical cancer inquiry, investigations into the Mr Asia drug ring, and the
Erebus commission of inquiry. |
