Church hostel terrorised

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 2

Church hostel terrorised

An unidentified man left a trail of blood and destruction as he terrorised the residents of the Salvation Army day-eare centre in Wellington on Friday night, the Press Association reports. “We were terrified. We did not know whether there was one or twentyone of them,” said one of the eight residents in the

centre, Envoy Kelvin Turner. The man smashed 15 windows — apparently with his bare fists — overturned and broke playground equipment, punched his way through a thin wooden fence, and scaled the balcony of the centre trying to gain access. “It must have gone on for 10 to 15 minutes; it

was just a continual smashing. He was cursing all the time,” said Mr Ensor. Huddled together, fearful of the attack, none of the eight residents managed to get a look at the man. The matron of the centre, Captain Marjorie McEwan, alerted the police immediately but the

offender had absconded before they arrived. He left a trail of blood around the centre, however. “I was told that a man was taken to hospital after being found in a pool of blood in nearby Palmer Street, by a traffic officer, but when the police got to the hospital he had gone,” said Captain McEwan.