Family fight for justice
Bradley King’s mother and sisters are determined to honour their final promise to him, and say the system let himdown at every turn. reports.
Agrieving family are vowing to fight for justice in the name of their “gentle giant”, who died after a vicious attack in his Manawatu¯ Prison cell.
Bradley King, 36, was assaulted by his cell-mate on February 11 and died in Wellington Hospital on February 24 as a result of his injuries.
His Palmerstonnorth family are devastated by their loss and feel hewas let down at every turn. Now they too feel like they have been let down as they wait for answers aboutwhat happened – and an apology from the Department of Corrections.
Before he died, King’s family told him, as he lay in his hospital bed, they’d fight for justice and for change. It’s a promise they’re intent on keeping.
King, a first-time offender, was in custody on burglary charges, three of which he planned to admit.
Aman has been charged with wounding to cause grievous bodily harm over the attack on King, andmore serious charges could come as a police homicide investigation continues.
“The thing that gets me is no one has said they are sorry,” King’s twin sister Bridget King said. “I don’t care if it takes years. We will get justice. Our fight is not just for Brad, it’s for everyone else who’s been screwed by the system.”
Bridget, Brad’s other two sisters, Mel and Jo King, and theirmother Jude King spoke to Stuff yesterday from the home he shared with Bridget and her son.
There, a photo of Brad – a strong, fit “gentle giant” – sits centre-stage in the lounge, with a special carved wooden gift made by Manawatu¯ Prison inmates in his honour.
Bridget said the family had heard from inmates who told them how her brother listened to them or gave words of encouragement – not surprising from aman who made friends everywhere hewent.
In contrast, the family said, they hadn’t heard from prison officials about progress in the Corrections investigation into what happened, and they had received no apology or even a card offering condolences.
The family are missing Brad’s cell phone – meaning they didn’t get a chance to use photos from it at his funeral last Tuesday – as well as other property they sent him, including phone cards. Most letters he said he had written to them have not yet arrived.
Brad had Bridget’s number approved for him to ring from the prison and, because his phone cards hadn’t arrived, he had to use ones belonging to other inmates.
Mumjude last heard from him when they spoke over Bridget’s phone.
“He cried on the phone, saying: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I love you.’ That’s my last oneminute conversation with my son.”
He also cried when talking to Bridget’s son later and, as his time on the phone ran out, Brad told Bridget he didn’t have a lawyerwhen police spoke to him after he was arrested.
The family are in the dark about exactly what happened on the night of the attack, but are clear their concern is with the systemic failures of the prison system rather than King’s cellmate.
“I don’t have any animosity for him,” Jude said.
“I’m not a vengeful person. I just feel sorry for their family that they have to go through this alongside us. Those boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Brad was arrested on February 2. He had no assigned lawyer for his court appearance the following day.
Represented only by a duty lawyer Brad saw a few minutes before appearing in the dock, he was kept in custody because no bail application was made.
“We believe if he had a lawyer [assigned] he would have got bail, and he would have been home, and we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Bridget said.
When a lawyerwas assigned, they couldn’t believe Brad hadn’t received bail, and had filed an application with the court, which was due to be heard inmidFebruary.
On the night of the attack, Brad’s family were woken by calls from Corrections and rushed to Palmerston North Hospital, where seeing him was a shock. Nobody had prepared them for how severe his injuries were.
“I don’t care if it takes years. We will get justice. Our fight is not just for Brad, it’s for everyone else who’s been screwed by the system.” Bridget King
Brad was flown towellington Hospital, but none of his family could be at his side for the flight, because a Corrections officer accompanied him, taking up the space reserved for non-emergency service workers.
His family kept a bedside vigil in Wellington Hospital as he fought for his life.
Initially they had little privacy because Corrections officers were also present standing guard. They left once Brad, who never regained consciousness, was granted compassionate bail after four days.
Until then the guards wouldn’t let the family use their phones in the hospital room.
One of Brad’s friends had made a video of his dog Chiko – Brad’s family hoped the sound of it might stimulate his brain.
‘‘We had to get permission to put the end of the phone to his ear,’’ Bridget said. ‘‘And to hear his nephew singing.’’
Brad’s injuries were horrific and included fractures to his skull, face and ribs. The family didn’t know their extent initially and were horrified when they found out.
Mel said the family were told every bone in his face was broken and, if he recovered, he would have faced major surgery.
Heartbreakingly for the family, Brad’s wish to be an organ donor couldn’t be fulfilled because his body became police evidence when he died, 24 hours after his life-support was turned off.
‘‘He could have given life to 30 other people,’’ Jude said. ‘‘It kept me going, thinking, ‘OK if we’re going to lose him, he could give life to all those other people.’ They’d be something of him still carrying on.’’
Accommodation in Wellington was hard to find for the family, with a Six60 concert on in the capital city, so for the first few nights they stayed at a hotel near the airport. This cost them $3500. Corrections then paid for an Airbnb.
On Friday, a Corrections spokesperson said its ‘‘operational review’’ of the incident was due to be finished in the ‘‘coming weeks’’.
The independent prison inspectorate would also examine what happened.
‘‘Corrections has been working closely with the victim’s family to understand their needs and provide them with support. Out of respect for their privacy, we won’t be providing further details at this time,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘‘As the death remains subject to investigation, and the coroner is yet to determine the cause, we are limited in the amount of detail that we are able to provide.’’
Meanwhile, in another blow to the King family, they have to cover most of the funeral costs.
ACC pays up to $6500 when someone dies of an injury. This rises to $10,000 if there is a homicide conviction, but if there was such a finding in Brad’s death it could be more than a year away.
Brad’s father and close mate Brian died a couple of years ago, and six months later his best friend died suddenly.
Despite this, Brad stepped up to look after his family, always spending time with his nephews, at swimming or football, and having dinner with his mum every night.
A builder, who attended St Peter’s College in Palmerston North and St Joseph’s School in Feilding, Brad was a workaholic. He was also an animal lover, who adored Chiko.
Mel said his death robbed her son, and Bridget’s son, of a father figure.
‘‘They are suffering the most. You can’t shield them from it,’’ she said of the effect on the two boys.
The family said they were grateful for the support they’d received over the past few weeks, but Bridget said getting to sleep was tough, given what happened to her brother was playing on her mind all the time.
‘‘It’s going to haunt us.’’
Mel said: ‘‘We want to get to the truth. We won’t stop.’’