Malcolm Richards suffers from frequent memory lapses due to the electroconvulsive therapy he was subjected to at Lake Alice. Photo / Paul Taylor
Malcolm Richards suffers from frequent memory lapses due to the electroconvulsive therapy he was subjected to at Lake Alice. Photo / Paul Taylor
Lake Alice psychiatric hospital survivor Malcolm Richards wants 92-year-old former child psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks imprisoned for "destroying" his life.
But justice has not been done, the Hastings man claims.
"There's more than enough evidence against Selwyn Leeks, he's had ample opportunity to defend himself, he refused. We did not getjustice."
Last week Operation Lake Alice, the police investigation into allegations of ill-treatment involving children and young people at the hospital in the 1970s concluded with criminal charges filed against a former staff member.
The investigation into the long-standing allegations included interviews with former staff of the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit, 63 former patients, including Richards, and over 46,000 pages of documentary evidence.
Police found sufficient evidence to charge two other former staff members with wilful ill-treatment of a child.
However, both those individuals, including 92-year-old former child psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks, are now medically unfit to stand trial.
Police said it was important to note that the finding did not mean Leeks was guilty of the alleged offence, he could not be charged as he was unable to defend himself in court.
Selwyn Leeks was the psychiatrist in charge of the Child and Adolescent Unit of Lake Alice Hospital. Photo / NZME
Richards was sent to Lake Alice in 1975, and prior to his admission to the facility he suffered violence at home and had been sexually abused by a teacher at his primary school.
Once at Lake Alice, he received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on his head, body and genitals.
He was a part of the Grant Cameron redress process in 2001.
Now 62, he was just 15 years old when he was subjected to the treatment.
''I have lifelong, hideous effects from my time in Lake Alice, particularly from ECT," Richards previously told the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.
He struggles with his memory daily, and he puts it down to ECT.
He struggles to remember his daughter who died from cancer a few years ago, and needs to look at photo albums to remind himself of her existence.
He struggles with remembering the names of his four remaining kids, and struggles with remembering instructions.
"I am surviving, not living."
He cannot work and has been on benefits on and off for the last 40-plus years and his suffering is "lifelong".
"Imagine the concussions rugby players get and the aftermath. That's how I feel every single day of my life."
He gets "short, sharp" headaches which "bring me to my knees" frequently.
"I suffer from fatigue, I get angry and confused when I can't remember and my school-aged children witness that."
Richards said if the Government did not provide "real, meaningful redress" he would invite, as part of his UN Committee against Torture (UNCAT) case, a UN special rapporteur to come to New Zealand to settle the case.
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry acknowledged the findings of NZ police that a former staff member from Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit had been charged in relation to allegations of abuse against patients who were in care in the unit.
The commission said they understood survivors would be disappointed by the NZ Police decision not to charge Selwyn Leeks.
Leeks was the psychiatrist in charge of the Child and Adolescent Unit and over decades faced several allegations that he was responsible for acts of abuse against his patients.
Now aged in his 90s, the Royal Commission was told he was incapacitated.
Royal Commission chairwoman Coral Shaw said it was a NZ Police decision not to charge Dr Leeks.
"This has not and will not deter the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry from making adverse findings about Dr Leeks, about survivors' allegations against him.
"Importantly, we will also make findings about how the allegations were dealt with by authorities, including NZ Police."
