Son cast out over farm feud
Church family cites mental illness, writes Craig Hoyle.
A millionaire dairy farming couple are trying to prove their son is mentally unwell after he left their church and raised concerns about the family business.
Erin Bay says he has been cast out by his parents, Stuart and Beth Bay, after he left the Open Brethren church to become a Catholic.
He says his parents approached an Auckland psychiatrist without his knowledge on October 26, claiming their son was spiralling out of control.
The psychiatrist provided them with a letter to Bay urging him to seek medical attention, and even though he hadn’t seen Bay for seven years, suggested he was suffering from bipolar disorder.
‘‘Your family are currently very concerned about you, and from what I have understood, it is highly likely that you are again having another active episode of bipolar disorder,’’ the psychiatrist wrote in the letter.
The letter did not detail the concerns expressed to him by Bay’s parents. It was addressed to Bay care of his parents’ address. The psychiatrist made it clear his opinion was based on Bay’s clinical presentation and history in 2008 and 2009, as well as what he had been told by Bay’s parents.
The letter advised him to see psychiatrist.
Bay’s parents then used the letter to threaten to have him sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
The family became involved in a messy dispute after Bay announced he was leaving the church earlier in 2016.
His family are closely involved with the church; his father Stuart Bay, is a trustee of the Brethren charity Trinity Lands, which manages more than $200 million worth of assets in Waikato.
Bay estimates his family’s personal holdings are worth around $30m.
He worked as general manager on the family’s dairy farm, but said he resigned after conditions became intolerable.
Bay said he had sacrificed a lot to stay and work on the family farm and was astounded to learn his parents had used the psychiatrist seven years after he had last seen him.
He first learnt of the visit after emailing his father on October 28 with concerns about the family business.
‘‘Within 40 minutes (they) replied with (the psychiatrist’s) letter, which he’d had up his sleeve for two days,’’ he said. a My children might grow up thinking that their father was something he wasn’t.
Bay’s parents demanded their son seek urgent medical treatment.
‘‘If visits are not done by next Wed 2 Nov we will seek the support of the Waikato Mental Health Crisis Team who can act under Section 8 of the Mental Health Act,’’ they wrote.
Bay temporarily left Waikato out of fear his parents would follow through on the threat.
He acted on the psychiatrist’s recommendation and now sees Auckland psychotherapist Colleen Emmens, who noted in a report after six sessions that Bay did not appear to suffer from bipolar disorder.
‘‘He remained in the moment, clear and articulate, and [was able to] reflect and respond she wrote.
In her view the psychiatrist’s letter made no sense given he hadn’t seen Bay since 2009.
Bay fears his parents are now using the letter to suggest to friends and colleagues that he is unwell.
He now lives apart from his wife appropriately,’’ and children in furniture while things out.
‘‘The worst thing for me is that my children might grow up thinking that their father was something he wasn’t,’’ he said. Stuart Bay declined to comment. Through his lawyer, the psychiatrist also declined to comment. a house with no he tries to sort