CONSTABLE ATTACKED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 18 April 1939, Page 9

CONSTABLE ATTACKED

BLOW ON BACK OF HEAD ACCOSTED MAN NEAR NURSES’ QUARTERS AUCKLAND, 17th April. Serious injuries were suffered by Constable D. G. Kilgour, when he received a blow on the head while patrolling the grounds of St. Helens Hospital early this morning. He was found semi-conscious near the back entrance of the hospital shortly before 3 a.m. and was taken to the Auckland Hospital, where he recovered consciousness several hours later. His condition is fairly serious. It is suggested Constable Kilgour may have been the victim of a prowler who, after striking him. escaped in the darkness. Since the beginning of the year nurses at the hospital have from time to time telephoned the police in the early hours of the morning and complained that a man has been seen to lurk near the back entrance to the grounds. Several times constables from the central station went to investigate but when they arrived the man had gone. It is reported that on one occasion a nurse found a man in her room but her cries caused him to run away. Periodic watches have been kept and this morning Constable Kilgour accosted a man who was crossing a lawn outside the nurses’ sleeping quarters. A few minutes later a sister heard groans from the back of the premises. She went to the back door and saw the constable, obviously distressed crawling toward her. When he reached the door he collapsed. Constable Kilgour is the man who rescued Mr J. O’Sullivan, vice-com-modore of the Victoria Cruising Club, from the club's premises during the fire at St. Mary’s Bay on 6th March. Both men were afterward taken to the Auckland hospital, where they were treated for shock.