NSW: Firebomb doctor scared for his young family

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2007
NSW: Firebomb doctor scared for his young family

SYDNEY, April 13 AAP - A terrified Sydney doctor whose car was firebombed says he is
trying to fathom why he and his young family are apparently being targeted.

The paediatrician, his wife, and their baby were asleep in their West Ryde home early
today when the family car exploded in flames in a driveway near the house.

The blaze destroyed a nearby boat and damaged a neighbouring house while neighbours
rushed from their beds at 3am (AEST) to help douse the flames.

It was the second attack in four weeks on the doctor's property, after a brick was
thrown through the windscreen of his other car last month.

Witnesses told the Fairfax website they had seen a four-door car speeding away from
the house after this morning's attack.

The doctor, based at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, and his family fled through
a window of their single-storey home after the car alarm alerted them to the fire.

"I'm quite shaken. I've got no idea why anyone would do this," the doctor told Fairfax.

Police said they had seized a fuel can found next to the car, adding that the doctor
believed the vehicle's interior had been doused before being set alight.

The doctor, who did not want to be identified, told Fairfax he believed last month's
attack was nothing more than an act of vandalism.

"But there's possibly a connection - I don't know what," he told Fairfax.

The doctor only moved into the house three months ago.

Neighbour Jim Paterson said that if the address was being targeted then it was obviously
a case of mistaken identity.

" ... I'm sure the (doctor) would not have an enemy in the world," he told Fairfax.

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KEYWORD: ARSON NIGHTLEAD

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