The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit public hearing continues today in Auckland.

Witness evidence summaries are outlined below.

After a witness speaks, their full evidence along with footage of them speaking, will be available for download.

The hearing is being live-streamed on the Abuse in Care website.

Hearing location: Level 2, 414 Khyber Pass Road, Newmarket, Auckland 1023.

10am approx.

Andrew Jane, survivor witness

Andrew Jane is a 57-year-old survivor of the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit. He spent time in a number of boys’ homes growing up. He was sent to Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit in 1976 after being caught running away from Holdsworth, although he was never formally admitted to Lake Alice. Mr Jane gives evidence about the abuse he suffered at Lake Alice and the lasting impacts that has had on his life, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.


11.45am approx.

Paul Zentveld, survivor witness (statement to be read by support person)

Paul Zentveld is a 61-year-old survivor of the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit. He was admitted to the Child and Adolescent Unit five times between the ages of 13 and 15 where he was heavily medicated and routinely subjected to electroconvulsive therapy and seclusion. He will give evidence relating to his time at Lake Alice and the subsequent efforts he has made to seek justice for the wrongs he suffered as an adolescent. He was one of the claimants represented by Grant Cameron in 2001. He has also made various complaints to bodies such as the Victorian Medical Practitioners Board, ACC, the New Zealand Police, and the Whanganui District Health Board. Most recently, he took his complaint to the United Nations, and in 2017 he filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). The complaint, which alleged the New Zealand Government had failed to investigate the complaints of torture and ill-treatment against minors at Lake Alice, or hold any individual accountable, was upheld by UNCAT in 2019.


2.15pm approx.

Thomas Fitzgerald

Detective Superintendent Thomas Fitzgerald will read a statement on behalf of New Zealand Police.

3.45pm approx.

Malcolm Burgess

Malcolm Burgess is a former Assistant Commissioner of the New Zealand Police who retired from the Police in 2016. Mr Burgess will give evidence of the investigation he undertook into the complaints over the period 2006 through to 2010 and explain the decision-making process not to lay criminal charges in 2010.