An 89-year-old man accused of punishing children at Lake Alice by injecting them with a powerful sedative has pleaded not guilty.
The former staff member faces eight charges which are alleged to have taken place at the psychiatric facility near Whanganui in the 1970s. His charges include having the custody, control, or charge of a child under the age of 16, willfully ill-treating them, or allowing for them to be ill-treated by administering paraldehyde as punishment.
In one case, he's accused of using the sedative on a boy who was "enjoying himself too much, laughing and having jokes". Another is alleged to have received an injection after calling the defendant "a bastard".
The appearance comes after a Police investigation into allegations of ill-treatment involving children and young people at Lake Alice.
The accused, who has interim name suppression for seven days, pleaded not guilty to all charges and elected a jury trial.
The next hearing is set down for next year.