Robbie Allen came from the humblest of troubled backgrounds. He now owns a fleet of trucks and another of incredible cars. He told journalist David Fisher.
Abuse in care: Pasifika boys were treated worse than Pākehā, survivor says stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ellen O Dwyer12:25, May 09 2021
Oranga Tamariki/Supplied
Hamilton Boys Home was in operation from 1959 to 1990.
The night 13-year-old Daniel Rei arrived at Hamilton Boys’ Home was the first time he thought he was going to die. He arrived at his room and was covered in a blanket, hit, kicked and punched repeatedly by other boys. It ended in a black eye, swollen lips, loosened teeth and bruises. But the beatings were far from over. “Later I’d find out [the violence] goes on in degrees, there’s kiddy stuff, and then it gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” Rei told the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care.
Murray Wilson/Stuff
Daniel Rei was in state care for four years at a family home in New Plymouth, Hamilton Boys’ Home and the Kohitere Boys’ Training Centre in Levin. His behaviour got aggressive after experiencing racism at school in Taranaki, and after being sexually abused by his uncle when he was 8 years old, so his mother contacted the Department of Social Welfare. In December 1986 he was admitted to the Rosendale Family Home where became involved in sexual activity, started sniffing glue daily, smoking cigarettes and cannabis and taking benzodiazepines. He was admitted to Hamilton Boys’ Home after committing burglaries. He was not there long, and ran away as often as he could.
Murray Wilson/Stuff
Daniel Rei was in state care for four years at a family home in New Plymouth, Hamilton Boys’ Home and the Kohitere Boys’ Training Centre in Levin. His behaviour got aggressive after experiencing racism at school in Taranaki, and after being sexually abused by his uncle when he was 8 years old, so his mother contacted the Department of Social Welfare. In December 1986, he was admitted to the Rosendale Family Home where he became involved in sexual activity, started sniffing glue daily, smoking cigarettes and cannabis and taking benzodiazepines. He was admitted to Hamilton Boys’ Home after committing burglaries. He was not there long, and ran away as often as he could.