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£120,000 Reward Offered by Sect

East Grinstead Courier, 5 April 1984, front page

A REWARD of £120,000 had been offered by the international body of the Church of Scientology for information leading to the recovery of what are said to be scriptures stolen from its European headquarters in Denmark.

The sect is hoping to obtain information which will lead to the arrest of other people in Britain and abroad who were involved in the theft. The offer follows an international police operation and the issuing of High Court orders in London and Edinburgh to recover the documents and any copies made of them.

One man, Mr Robin Scott, 36, of Aberdeen- is currently awaiting trial in a Danish prison after being arrested by police at Copenhagen airport on March 13. He faces a charge of theft.

East Grinstead police said last week that they had recovered some documents after interviewing two residents of the town. They were acting on requests from the Danish police through Interpol, following the arrest of Scott in Denmark.

The High Court in London last week issued an injunction ordering Mrs Morag Bellmain, of West Hill, and Mr Ron Lawley, 41, of St James Road, both of East Grinstead to hand over any of the stolen documents, and any copies taken, and to reveal any knowledge they had of further scriptures or copies.

The order was challenged by the two and confirmed in the High Court on Wednesday. On Friday the High Court in Edinburgh issued a similar injuction ordering Mrs Adrienne Scott, wife of the men held in Denmark, to return the sect's scriptures.

"It is understood that police in Aberdeen have recovered some of the documents." said Mr Garside, spokesman at the sect's UK headquarters at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead.

Forty "disenchanted" placard :arrying Scientologists went on a srotest march through East Grinstead town centre during a mow flurry on Sunday in a demand for reforms at the UK headquarters at Saint Hill.

Spokesman for the protesters, Mr Eric Ballard, a 31-year-old marketing consultant, of Pound Hill, Crawley, said they wanted the sect to end what he claimed was its "disconnection" policy, which split up friends and families, and to end its monopoly which was resulting in exhorbitant fees being charged for courses of counselling.

Mr Ballard, a former "minister" in the church, said they wanted answers to questions such as whether the sect's founder L. Ron Hubbard, was dead or alive and what happened to the huge sums of money paid into the church by its devotees.

[picture: a crowd of people marching along with placards]

Forty disenchanted placard-carrying Scientologists went on a protest march through East Grinstead town centre during a snow flurry on Sunday in a demand for reforms at the UK headquarters at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead.

Spokesman for the protestors, Mr Eric Ballard, a 31-year-old marketing consultant, of Pound Hill, Crawley, said they wanted the sect to end what he claimed was its disconnection policy, which split up friends and families, and to end its monopoly which was resulting in exorbitant fees being charged for courses of counselling.

Mr Ballard, a former "minister" in the church, said they wanted answers to questions such as whether the sect's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was dead or alive, and what happened to the huge sums of money paid into the church by its devotees.

[picture: About a dozen people are visible (very hard to tell with my very degraded copy). They hold placards with slogans including "If it isn't fun it isn't Scientology - L. Ron Hubbard", "Down with the prices", "Our ministers are entitled to use their own scriptures", "Total Freedom", "End Church Monopoly", "Religion or Commercial Empire?" "Independent Scientologists Refuse Church Monopoly", "Break the Monopoly" and one which appears to be "Reconnect not Disconnect". Official signs for "Dianetics" and "Church of Scientology" are visible behind the placards, indicating that the photo was taken at the entrance to the Saint Hill estate.]

A GROUP of people who described themselves as "independent" Scientologists, hold a placard carrying demonstration outside the entrance to the Scientology college at Saint Hill Manor on Sunday afternoon. The "disenchanted" Scientologists paraded through East Grinstead town centre before taking their protest to the gates of the sect's UK headquarters.

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