24 Jun 2021

Royal Commission into Abuse in Care: Man recalls shock therapy as a child

From Morning Report, 8:37 am on 24 June 2021

A survivor of abuse at Lake Alice in the 1970s was repeatedly given electric shock treatment even though his medical records showed that he had a heart condition.

Charlie Symes, who is now 63, spent over a year in the Child and Adolescent Unit and like many others who went through the place, he received electric shocks and painful drugs as a punishment.

He became a bit of a hero after he broke the nose of the unit head, psychiatrist, Dr Selwyn Leeks.

But he paid dearly for it.

Andrew McRae reports on the latest from the inquiry into abuse in care.