Kenny
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Kenny is in his late 30s and has post-traumatic stress disorder. He has experienced violence and abuse at the hands of police and hospital staff.
‘On one occasion I have had my front door kicked in and been beaten by four police officers, and on another I was beaten by six officers … both without justification, and in both cases the guilty parties knew that I was a vulnerable person,' he told the Royal Commission.
‘I have also been beaten on a number of occasions by the security staff of … [a] local hospital, on one occasion being thrown into the floor face first before the poor administration of a variety of drugs, and on another, I was thrown to the floor by six security guards and had a knee jammed into my back leaving bruising.’
One day, Kenny says, he was detained by eight officers for no apparent reason. One of them told Kenny, ‘I'd shoot you, but I don't like paperwork.’
Another time, Kenny was beaten by a hotel employee on a cigarette break. He tried to seek assistance at the local police station. Kenny said the police officer asked him if he was homeless. Realising he wasn’t, the officer told Kenny to ‘go home and sleep it off’.
‘Police need to be correctly trained to deal with vulnerable people in a safe, calm and respectful manner,’ says Kenny. He wants to see victims of crime who have disability ‘respected and dealt with in a proper manner’ and ‘their concerns treated in the same way as anybody’.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.