Eastbourne club’s life-saving equipment vandalised

This incident is believed to have happened between the morning of January 19 and the afternoon of January 21.

Parade Bowls Club captain Peter Hensman said, “The cabinet had been forced open and it had been dropped on the ground just below the box.

“We think they took a pair of scissors. There is an emergency pack in there with spare pads for the defibrillator and scissors in case they need to cut clothing and that sort of thing.

“Just forcing it out and dropping it on the ground, I can’t put words on it.”

Mr Hensman, who has been at the club for 10 years, said, “Fortunately a member of the public saw the box was open and the light was on in it and found my phone number on the wall for emergency contacts.

“I went down and I don’t think it had been out for more than an hour. We were fairly fortunate in that respect.

“It is perfectly serviceable, it’s still working and we have managed to repair the door. We have had so many problems down there with people smashing windows and breaking in and things like that.”

A month ago the club’s storage sheds were broken into and the fence was cut but fortunately nothing was taken.

Mr Hensman said, “They cut the padlocks off of them, went in, threw a few things around and walked out. Didn’t take anything. There was nothing in there for them to take.”

The club’s £1,200 defibrillator had been purchased thanks to fundraising efforts.

Unfortunately, a similar incident was reported in December 2019 when a defibrillator was throw into a water feature at Sovereign Harbour.

In 2017 the Herald backed the Eastbourne Heart Beat Campaign which aimed to install defibrillators across the town while teaching people about the benefits of the equipment as well as how to use them.

Through the campaign more than 50 defibrillators were installed in Eastbourne.

If you would like to know where public defibrillators are in Eastbourne visit: https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/all-defibrillators-available-public-eastbourne-1005682.