2004-0626 - NZ Herald - Cold case parents' agony
by Stephen Cook - The death certificate said James Kake died of a severe asthma attack, but his family were never convinced. Now they are joining the growing chorus of calls seeking a public inquiry into claims of serious abuse at mental hospitals. 2004-0623 - The Press - Desperate days at Sunnyside recalled By Kamala Hayman - Sally (not her real name) knew she was not like other girls. Withdrawn and depressed, she was secretly scrubbing her stomach with sandpaper. Sometimes she would grab a piece of broken glass, a razor blade – anything sharp – and slice into her arms and legs. She had started self-harming when she was 12 years old…………… 2004-0623 - The Press - Abuse victims call for Govt inquiry By Kamala Hayman - A woman subjected to years of shock treatment and threatened with a lobotomy while a teenage patient at Christchurch's Sunnyside Hospital in the 1960s is seeking an inquiry. The woman, now aged 56, is joining more than 200 former child psychiatric patients nationwide taking legal action against the Government over alleged mistreatment during the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0623 - NZ Parliament - Questions for Oral Answer Psychiatric Institutions—Abuse - Ron Mark (NZ First) to the Attorney-General: Will she be ordering an inquiry into claims of serious abuse at psychiatric institutions during the 1960s and 1970s; if not, why not? 2004-0621 - NZ Herald - Abuse complaints 'should be believed' by Martin Johnston - The more than 200 former psychiatric patients claiming compensation for mistreatment should be believed because of the sheer force of their numbers, a lawyer says. Sonja Cooper, who represents more than half the claimants, said their credibility was established by so many people recounting similar experiences. 2004-0620 - Newstalk ZB - Abuse inquiries flow in There has been a steady stream of inquiries from former employees and patients over abuse allegations at psychiatric hospitals. Almost 200 official complaints have been made by people who allege they were physically and sexually abused in state mental health hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0619 - The Press - Nelson abuse claims Four former patients of Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital in Nelson have lodged formal complaints of abuse at the institution, including allegations of experimentation on patients. Almost 200 complaints have been made by people who allege they were abused in mental health hospitals around New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0619 - NZ Herald - Witness to boy's death believes there was a cover-up by Stephen Cook - A chill cuts through the air as Stephen Lindsay slumps on to his sofa bed. As he pores over pages of crumpled documents trying to piece together his thoughts, his eyes suddenly bulge and dart to the other side of his cramped and cluttered haunt. Then his composure melts. …….. 2004-0619 - NZ Herald - Mother wants to know how son died at psychiatric hospital by Martin Johnston - Clement Matthews' mother wants the police to get to the truth about his death in Kingseat mental hospital 36 years ago. Rebecca Matthews, 63, said yesterday that she first learned of the police re-opening their investigation into the 1968 death of 11-year-old Clement in last week's Weekend Herald. 2004-0618 - NZ Herald - More allegations of abuse at mental institution NZPA - Four former patients of Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital in Nelson have lodged formal complaints of abuse at the institution, including allegations of experimentation on patients. Almost 200 complaints have been made by people who allege they were abused in mental health hospitals around New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s. Wellington lawyer Roger Chapman said today a "steady number" of former patients of Ngawhatu Hospital were now coming forward. 2004-0618 - Nelson Mail - Abuse complaints mount against psychiatric hospital by Sheriee Smith - Four more former patients of Ngawhatu psychiatric hospital have lodged formal complaints of alleged abuse at the institution - including claims of experimentation on patients. Almost 200 complaints have been made by people who allege they were abused in mental health hospitals around New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0615 - NZ Herald - PM ponders response to psychiatric abuse allegations by Audrey Young - The Prime Minister yesterday raised the possibility that complaints about abuse in mental hospital could be dealt with through mediation. However, she said the Government needed more information before it decided between that approach or an inquiry. 2004-0614 - NZ Herald - More patients say they were abused in asylums by Martin Johnston - More former patients have come forward alleging that they were abused in mental asylums during the 1960s and 1970s. The Weekend Herald revealed that the claims of widespread mistreatment that were previously confined to the former Porirua and Lake Alice asylums encompass most of the closed mental hospitals from Auckland to Otago. 2004-0614 - Nelson Mail - Nelson patients alleging abuse The Government is considering an inquiry into claims of serious abuse at mental health hospitals, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today. Almost 200 complaints have been made by former patients who allege they were abused in mental asylums during the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0612 - One News - Police reopen 1960s Kingseat case The death of an 11-year-old boy nearly four decades ago at an Auckland psychiatric hospital is being investigated again by police. The case has been reopened after a witness spoke out against the original coroner's findings. The case is also adding weight to calls for a commission of inquiry into claims of abuse at psychiatric institutions in the 1960s and '70s. 2004-0612 - NZ Herald - Woman recalls Tokanui trauma by Martin Johnston - Mary was put in Tokanui mental hospital in 1968 to help her to recover from depression. Aged 18, she was depressed after the birth of a baby, the second of her four children. But instead of receiving help, Mary says, she suffered beatings and sexual abuse, and was left damaged by electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). 2004-0612 - NZ Herald - Police re-open boy's hospital death case after 36 years by Martin Johnston - The police have re-opened the 36-year-old case of a boy's death at Kingseat psychiatric hospital south of Auckland, after a witness said a nurse beat the youngster. A 1968 coroner's finding that 11-year-old Clement Matthews died of pneumonia has been challenged by former patient Stephen Lindsay, who was 14 at the time. He says he saw a male nurse attack Clement 12 hours before he was found dying in his locked room. 2004-0612 - Newstalk ZB - 200-plus abuse claims from ex-psych patients Lawyers are expecting a landslide of abuse claims from former psychiatric patients. More than 200 claims, alleging physical abuse in state-run institutions, are believed to be in the pipeline. Police have reopened the 36-year-old case of Clement Matthews, who was ruled to have died of pneumonia at Kingseat psychiatric hospital, south of Auckland. 2004-0602 - Dominion Post - Porirua abuse claims rise to 130 The number of claims against the Crown for alleged physical, sexual and mental abuse at Porirua Hospital during the 1960s and 70s had risen to about 130 by yesterday. One of the lawyers spearheading the legal action, Sonja Cooper, said more claims were expected. "People find it difficult to talk about this kind of abuse and for some it can take months or even years to summon up the courage." 2004-0601 - Dominion Post - Patient abuse claims investigated Complaints of mistreatment of former patients at Porirua Hospital are under investigation by the Crown Law Office, it has been revealed. Prime Minister Helen Clark and Attorney-General Margaret Wilson have left the door open to an inquiry but say the complaints must be investigated first. Ms Wilson confirmed yesterday that the Crown was investigating 62 claims about treatment at various psychiatric institutions, including Porirua, and a further 44 complaints were likely to be filed. 2004-0531 - One News - Crown probes alleged patient abuse The Attorney General says the Crown is currently investigating 62 allegations of past abuse of patients at psychiatric hospitals. Margaret Wilson issued a statement on Monday afternoon in response to claims by former patients on the Sunday programme that they were physically abused by staff at Porirua Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s. 2004-0531 - NZ Government - Post Cabinet Press Conference Rt. Hon Helen Clark - Media: Is the government considering any sort of inquiry into the allegations of abuse at Porirua? PM: That has been referred to Crown Law and the Attorney-General. We’re investigating 62 claims, which have been filed, and I understand Margaret Wilson will have a statement out later today. 2004-0323 - Manawatu Standard - Lake Alice decision delay upsets victims A preliminary decision about laying charges against former Lake Alice Hospital staff who allegedly abused and tortured children in the 1970s is expected next month. The Crown Law Office is expected to give the Police Commissioner's Office its advice within weeks. Then Commissioner Robert Robinson will decide whether to lay charges. 2004-0306 - Manawatu Standard - Raped and tortured: A New Zealand childhood The demons of Lake Alice still haunt the people who lost their childhoods there. Lee Matthews talks to a survivor. "We were doomed people in Lake Alice because nobody helped us. We soon learned not to complain. We knew nobody would listen." |
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The Government is cynically banking on former pyschiatric patients giving up and going away by making justice too difficult to attain, say former Lake Alice Hospital residents in Palmerston North.
by Kamala Hayman - A former Christchurch psychiatric patient, subjected to years of shock treatment and threatened with a lobotomy, has dismissed as a "waste of time" Government plans to hear abuse claims in a confidential forum ……………… But a former Sunnyside patient, still living in Christchurch, could not see the point of the forum nor of further counselling.
NZPA - Former psychiatric hospital patients claiming compensation for abusive treatment are angered by Government plans to set up a confidential forum instead of an inquiry, their lawyers say. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson yesterday said former psychiatric patients who claimed to have suffered abuse while in hospital would be able to talk about their experiences at a confidential forum.
The Government has rejected calls to set up an inquiry into the allegations by hundreds of former patients that they were abused in psychiatric hospitals. Instead, it is creating a special forum to hear the stories of former patients, their families and hospital staff - forcing people who want compensation to go through the courts. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson said the forum, chaired by ombudsman and former judge Anand Satyanand, would refer people where necessary to the appropriate agencies, such as ACC, the Health and Disability Commissioner or the police. It could also refer people for state-paid counselling.
by Fran Tyler - Former psychiatric patients who say they were abused by hospital staff are angry at the Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson yesterday announced plans to instead establish a non-public forum to allow former patients, their families and hospital staff an avenue to air their complaints and stories.
Former psychiatric patients who claim they have suffered abuse will be given an opportunity to tell their stories at a confidential forum. The government is setting up the forum so former patients, their families and former staff can gain acknowledgement of their experiences. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson says they looked carefully at holding an inquiry, but many former psychiatric patients wanted a way to talk about their stories.
A group representing former mental health service users is outraged that the government is setting up a confidential forum to hear their claims of abuse. About 300 former patients have made complaints about their treatment at mental hospitals across New Zealand when most were aged between eight and 16. They have alleged beatings and sexual abuse by staff and other patients, excessive use of electro-shock treatment and drugs and solitary confinement.
Press Release by Margaret Wilson - The government will establish a forum for former psychiatric patients who claim to have suffered abuse while in hospital, Attorney-General Margaret Wilson announced today. The Confidential Forum for Former In-Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals will invite former patients, their families and hospital staff members to tell the stories of their experiences in psychiatric institutions. "The forum is designed to give former patients a chance to talk about their experiences in a non-critical and confidential environment," Margaret Wilson said.
A new forum is being set up for former psychiatric patients who claim to have been abused while in institutions. Former patients, their families and hospital staff will be able to talk openly of their experiences. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson says it will be a confidential and non-critical forum, chaired by an Ombudsman and administered by the Internal Affairs Department and Health Ministry.
The Attorney-General says compensation issues must be kept separate from a new forum for psychiatric patients who claim they were abused. The Confidential Forum for Former In-Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals, run by the Health Ministry and Internal Affairs, will provide a way for former psychiatric patients to formally register their claims. It will invite former patients, their families and hospital staff members to tell of their experiences.
For Hake Halo, Lake Alice Hospital was a place of terror which overshadowed the rest of his life. Now just a collection of run-down rural buildings with cows munching grass outside, in the 1970s it was the place where the then teenaged Hake says he was punished with electric shocks and painful injections by nurses and doctors trying to alter youngsters' behaviour.
An almost audible sigh can be heard from New Zealanders as they contemplate yet another labyrinthine case of institutional abuse and the liturgy of apologies and compensation that will inevitably go with it. After the St John of God, Porirua Mental Hospital, Nazareth House, Salvation Army and prison solitary confinement affairs, and others, we could do without the deep flesh wound that is beginning to suppurate at Waiouru
by Fran Tyler - Former psychiatric patients and social welfare children taking cases against the Crown over alleged abuse have accused the Government of discrimination. When news broke of allegations by army cadets that they suffered abuse between the 1950s and 1980s, Defence Minister Mark Burton immediately promised an independent investigation, one of the groups' lawyers, Sonja Cooper, said.
The number of claims alleging abuse and mistreatment at psychiatric hospitals during the 1960s and 1970s is continuing to climb. The Crown Law Office says there are now 77 individual claims from former patients, many of them relating to Porirua Hospital
by Amanda Warren - A group seeking redress for alleged abuse in psychiatric hospitals hopes huge public response will bolster its calls for Government action. Helen Gilbert, a spokeswoman for psychiatric survivor groups, said calls had been flowing in to groups around the country following the coalition's July call for a new method of compensation.
Calls have been flowing into psych survivor groups around the country from people seeking redress over historic abuse received in New Zealand mental institutions. Spokesperson for the coalition of groups Helen Gilbert says that since the groups first called for the Government to set-up a redress process in July there has been a steady stream of phone calls to consumer groups around the country from vulnerable people wanting to tell their stories.
People continue to come forward alleging abuse and mistreatment by psychiatric hospital staff at Porirua and other hospitals. Wellington lawyer Roger Chapman, with lawyer Sonja Cooper, is spearheading action against the Crown on behalf of those claiming physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s.
by Haydon Dewes - More people continue to come forward to allege abuse and mistreatment at the hands of psychiatric hospital staff at Porirua and other hospitals. More than 300 people had come forward and that number was climbing, said Wellington lawyer Roger Chapman, who with lawyer Sonja Cooper is spearheading action against the Crown on behalf of those claiming physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hospitals in the 1960s and 70s.
The number of claims alleging abuse and mistreatment at psychiatric hospitals during the 1960s and 70s is continuing to climb, as more former patients come forward. The Crown Law Office says there are now 77 individual claims from former patients - many of them relating to Porirua Hospital.
NZPA - Attorney-General Margaret Wilson says she is exploring ways for former psychiatric patients to avoid court cases if they want to when they seek compensation for their abuse claims. The historic allegations surfaced earlier this year and cover claims of widespread mistreatment at most of New Zealand's mental hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. Ms Wilson said yesterday that so far 68 individual claims had been filed in the High Court and she understood more than 300 people had not yet filed.
Attorney-General Margaret Wilson has indicated to former psychiatric patients with abuse claims that she is willing to consider negotiated settlements if they want to avoid going through the courts. The claims in question largely relate to those from former Porirua Hospital patients.
by Martin Johnston - The police are taking too long to investigate criminal complaints against psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks, say supporters of patients behind the claims. On Saturday, the Weekend Herald revealed that the Government had paid a further $4.2 million in compensation to former psychiatric patients at Lake Alice Hospital, in addition to the $6.5 million paid to 95 others in 2001.
Psychiatric survivor groups are banding together in their fight for compensation for the institutional torture and abuse they suffered at the hands of the state. Human rights advocate Helen Gilbert said thousands of people had experienced abuse and torture at the hands of the state, ranging from electric shock treatment, medication and seclusion as punishment to unnecessary long-term incarceration.
Former mental health patients are calling for the Government to set up a national process to deal with historic claims of abuse at psychiatric intitutions. The Psych Survivors Redress Coalition, which represents patient groups across the country, is making the call following recent reports of abuse of patients at Porirua hospital.
by Martin Johnston - The Government has paid a second wave of former psychiatric patients about $47,000 each, on average, in compensation for abuse they suffered at Lake Alice Hospital. The 88 who received the $4.2 million were patients of the hospital's notorious child and adolescent unit, run by psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks.
By Martin Johnston - Action to settle former mental hospital patients' compensation claims against the Crown for alleged abuse may be about to begin. Crown Law (the Government's lawyers) has arranged to meet lawyers acting for more than 200 former patients.
by Fran Tyler - Publicity over abuse at Porirua and other psychiatric hospitals has led to the number of claimants rising to more than 300 since legal action was first revealed two years ago. Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper, one of those spearheading the joint action against the Crown, says of those at least 200 are claiming physical, emotional or sexual abuse at Porirua during the 1960s and 1970s. So far 65 claims have been filed in the High Court.
By Fran Tyler - Publicity over abuse at Porirua and other psychiatric hospitals has led to the number of claimants rising to more than 300 since legal action was first revealed by The Dominion Post two years ago. Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper, one of those spearheading the joint action against the Crown, says that of those at least 200 are claiming physical, emotional or sexual abuse at Porirua during the 1960s and 70s.
by Phil Taylor - Brutal treatment of patients was the culture of the Porirua Mental Hospital in the 1960s, four former workers have said. The four women told the Weekend Herald that electric shock treatment was routinely used as punishment and patients were drugged into zombie-like states to make them more manageable. The women - students at the time - said part of their duties was to hold patients down while shock treatment was applied.
by Sheriee Smith - Complaints of serious mistreatment of patients at Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital are mounting. Since the Government announced last month it was looking at more than 200 complaints of abuse at psychiatric hospitals around New Zealand, nine former patients at Nelson's Ngawhatu Hospital have lodged claims with Wellington lawyer Roger Chapman.
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