CONSTABLE HIT ON HEAD

Southland Times, Issue 23795, 18 April 1939, Page 7

CONSTABLE HIT ON HEAD

PATROLLING GROUNDS OF HOSPITAL COMPLAINTS BY NURSES ABOUT PROWLER (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 17. 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 in a semiconscious state near the back entrance of the hospital shortly before three o’clock. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital, where he recovered consciousness several hours later. His condition is fairly serious. It is suggested that Constable Kilgour may have been the victim of a prowler who, after striking him, escaped in the darkness. Since the beginning of the year the 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 seep 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. Her cries prompted him to run away. Periodic watches have been kept and this morning Constable Kilgour accosted a man who was crossing the 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 towards 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 a fire at St. Mary’s Bay on March 6. Both men were afterwards taken to the Auckland Hospital, where they were treated for shock.