There is a sense gang members have been reluctant to engage with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. That is something the Waikato chapter of the Mongrel Mob is out to change.
They were supposed to be a sanctuary for tamariki taken away from a world of abuse, but for those placed in Social Welfare facilities in the 1970s and '80s, they were houses of pain and fear.
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Tyrone Marks went into state care at 8 years old and was in nine institutions. (File photo). “For me, healing is not possible, because of what has happened. I still carry on however, as normally as possible.” Plans were made for Marks to live in care for one year in January 1969 because his father was receiving psychiatric treatment for having a violent temper, and admitted he would harm Marks if he stayed home. The details of his first admission were suppressed, but his second placement was at Epuni Boys’ Home in Lower Hutt. He was admitted on three occasions between May 1969 and September 1973.