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.
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.
Abuse in state care: Boys homes taught repeat offender how to be sneakier, more violent and angrier
4 May, 2021 07:48 AM
4 minutes to read
Daniel Rei: I m still affected by the past and the reality is it s never going to go away. Photo / Andrew McRae
Daniel Rei: I m still affected by the past and the reality is it s never going to go away. Photo / Andrew McRae
RNZ
By Andrew McRae of RNZ
A man who has spent many years of his life in prison says he learnt his trade while in state-run boys homes.
Daniel Rei, 47, has given evidence to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care as it focuses on residential care.