During the event, Martin provided an extensive account of his childhood, describing a background shaped by neglect, instability, and prolonged periods within state care during the 1970s. He said he was frequently left unattended as an infant, prompting intervention by neighbours and authorities before being placed into institutional care.
He was adopted at the age of four, but said his early experiences had already resulted in deep psychological trauma. According to Martin, behavioural issues during childhood were often treated as personal failings rather than symptoms of neglect, a pattern he said reflected the limitations of welfare and mental health systems at the time.
By his early teens, Martin said he was regularly consuming alcohol and struggling at school. He reported being expelled from multiple institutions and later spending time in juvenile detention, including on his 16th birthday.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 