A former lead psychiatrist at Lake Alice hospital - who was accused of torturing children at the facility in the 1970s - has died.
Dr Selwyn Leeks pictured in 2006. Photo: Fairfax Media / Getty Images
Dr Selwyn Leeks was 92.
Leeks was accused of using electric shocks and paralysing drugs to punish patients at the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit, which operated near Marton.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care last year heard testimony about this from former patients, as well as sexual assaults and rapes by staff members and other patients, but Leeks never faced charges after police investigations in the late 1970s and early 2000s.
This prompted the United Nations to rule New Zealand was in breach of the Convention against Torture.
A third police investigation last year found there was enough evidence to prosecute Leeks, but because of poor health he was ruled unfit to stand trial.
He lived in Australia from the late 1970s and died on 6 January.
A Facebook post from one of his sons said the father of seven and grandfather of 18 died surrounded by family after a "long, stoic fight".
Dr Oliver Sutherland, who has for decades advocated for former patients, said Leeks was never held to account despite numerous police and other official investigations.
"It was a regime that we called probably the most appalling abuse of children in the guardianship of the state, but all of those investigations led to no action against Dr Leeks, and now he's dead," Sutherland told Midday Report.
Former patients might see justice through the Royal Commission and its recommendations, which could include compensation.
Lake Alice psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks dies aged 92
A former patient of Lake Alice psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, Malcolm Richards from Hawke's Bay, said Leeks' death does not change anything.
The Hawke's Bay man was in the unit or two months in 1975, and was subjected to electric shocks, given drugs and, he suspects, raped.
He said if Dr Leeks was facing charges he would have been disappointed about his death.
Charges of ill-treating children have been laid against an 89-year-old former Lake Alice staff member, John Corkran.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The Lake Alice psychiatric hospital. Photo: PUBLIC DOMAIN./ Pawful