www.peterellis.co.nz
: seeking justice for Peter Ellis : mail to:
[email protected]
Accusations of Abuse in
Institutions
Index: Home Page Peter Ellis
Index: Accusations in Institutions
NZ Herald
March 12, 2002
Former Lake Alice patients lay abuse claims
by Paula Oliver
Thirty-four criminal complaints of torture and
sexual abuse have been laid against former staff members of Lake Alice Hospital
near Marton as fresh claims emerge of identical abuse at another of the
country's mental institutions.
The criminal claims dating back to the 1970s were received by police yesterday.
They target several former
Last year, 95 former child patients of
At the time, some of the complainants said they wanted to pursue criminal
charges because the staff involved could still practise.
The claims of abuse, outlined last year in a report by retired High Court judge
Sir Rodney Gallen, include electroconvulsive therapy being used to punish
children, children being locked away with insane adult patients, sexual abuse,
and injections of the drug paraldehyde, which causes extreme pain.
Police national crime manager Bill Bishop said last night that legal opinions
would be needed before police could decide if an investigation was needed.
The fact that the complaints dated back to 1972 had to be considered, as did
the fact that they had already been through civil litigation. Medical practices
at the time of the alleged abuse would be looked at, and whether the actions
constituted a criminal offence.
Mr Bishop said the complaints were probably some of the oldest he had received
and it "could be some time" before police were able to make a
decision.
Fresh claims of abuse during the 1970s at another of the country's mental
institutions,
Lawyers representing two former child patients of the hospital said their
clients had complaints that mirrored those made against
These included the use of electroconvulsive treatment without anaesthetic.
Children were also sexually abused, made to chew soap and clean up geriatric
wards, the complainants said.
Nelson-based lawyer Jane Hunter and Wellington-based Sonja Cooper yesterday
appealed for other former patients of
By last night they had received four calls.
Ms Cooper said legal action would be filed if no other way to deal with the
complaints emerged.
One hurdle that would need to be crossed first was the age of the complaints.
Litigation was not necessarily the best way to pursue a remedy, because the
clients were already damaged, she said.
Ms Cooper also warned that some interpretations of new ACC legislation which
comes into effect on April 1 suggested that lump-sum claims for abuse before
the date of the introduction of the law would no longer be able to be pursued.
She said other remedies existed, but it was a very grey area legally that was
still being tested in the courts.