Police investigate abortion clinic fire

Press, 1 July 1985, Page 1

Police investigate abortion clinic fire

Detectives and' fire safety officers are investigating what they believe was arson on Saturday evening at Lyndhurst Home, the Bealey Avenue building earmarked by the Canterbury Hospital Board for an abortion clinic. The Fire Service was called to the unoccupied home at 9.15 p.m. on Saturday after an automatic alarm went off.

Minor damage to a kitchen was estimated at $2OOO. A C. 1.8. spokesman said an outside grill had been forced, and paper stuffed in it and lit. The chairman of the Hospital Board, Mr Tom Grigg, said last evening that the fire disappointed him. The board had thought the building was secure as it is well lit, is visited by a security firm, and has locked

gates. “At this stage I am sure we will have another look at it to see if there is anything more we can do,” he said. A molotov cocktail was thrown at Lyndhurst almost two months ago, causing slight damage to an outside wall. The man convicted of that offence told the police he was against abortion and had planned to raze the building. He is now a committed patient at Sunnyside Hospital. The Christchurch Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child says it was not to blame. In a statement to “The Press” yesterday, Mrs Patricia Batchelor said that S.P.U.C. firmly dissociated itself from the actions of anyone who caused damage to property in an attempt to oppose abortion.