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.
Already nearly 200 former patients have lodged complaints with lawyers alleging
mistreatment in the 1960s and 1970s. The claims, which initially focused on Porirua Hospital, have broadened to include most of New Zealand's former asylums, including Oakley, Kingseat and Tokanui hospitals.
The complainants are separate from those of 95 former Lake Alice child patients who received a $6.5 million Government payment and an apology in 2001 after claiming they were tortured and sexually abused at the hospital in the 1970s.
The most serious allegations in the new claims are of sexual assault and beatings by staff and patients.
Like many of the families seeking answers, the Kakes cannot understand why their son died so suddenly. Yes, he was out of control, they say, but did the system fail him?
Mr Kake was admitted to Kingseat in 1989 after being diagnosed with a schizophrenic form of psychosis. He was a severe asthmatic and prone to random acts of uncontrollable violence.
His parents, Tamiau and Vaietu Kake, claim 23-year-old James was regularly beaten and abused at Kingseat. They can produce no hard evidence of this, but say they regularly saw bruising to his hands, face and neck.
Because of Mr Kake's medical condition and the fact that he needed to be close to a hospital in case of a severe asthma attack, he was transferred to Stanford House in Wanganui in 1996.
His condition deteriorated and on February 27, 1997, he reached breaking point.
The events of that day are still in dispute, but the official version is that Mr Kake had to be physically restrained after refusing to take his medication.
He was put in a secure wing of the hospital, where he died of what, says the coroner, was an asthma attack.
The Kakes have spent $12,000 challenging that finding, believing the amount of force used in restraining their son led to the fatal attack.
Police were unable to find any evidence to back up the family's claim of manslaughter.
Simativa Perese, the lawyer representing the family, said excessive force and substandard nursing care were the catalyst to Mr Kake's fatal attack, but that claim was not supported by the coroner's findings.
Mr Kake snr said if his son's case helped to convince the Government to carry out a public inquiry into the treatment of former patients, "then good".
"This has been going on too long. Like all these other families, we want someone held accountable. That's the least we deserve."
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.
Already nearly 200 former patients have lodged complaints with lawyers alleging
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