EvanL
03-18-2004, 06:04 PM
CAMBRIDGE, England (AP) — Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been questioned by detectives about alleged abuses that reportedly left him with a series of unexplained injuries, police said today.
Hawking, 62, who is paralysed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was interviewed Wednesday by Cambridgeshire police at Papworth Hospital, said force spokesperson Tony Taylorson.
It was the first time police have spoken to Hawking since opening an investigation late last year into reports that he suffered mysterious injuries, including a broken wrist, gashes to the face and a cut lip.
For more than 40 years, sclerosis has deprived the scientist of the ability to speak or to move, except for a few fingers he uses to operate a computerized voice box.
Despite his severe disabilities, Hawking is one of the world's best-known scientists. He serves as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton, and is author of the bestselling book A Brief History of Time.
In January, Hawking suffered from pneumonia and was admitted to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge. He has since been moved to Papworth Hospital in the town of Papworth Everad.
"We spoke with Prof. Hawking for the first time on Wednesday in connection with allegations of abuse against him," said Taylorson. ``I can't say anything more about the case," which was opened late last year.
Hawking has dismissed allegations that he was assaulted or abused at his home in Cambridge as "completely false." Stories in the British press have contained sometimes lurid allegations attributed to unidentified nurses and others who have cared for him.
The scientist, who divorced his first wife after 26 years, married his nurse, Elaine Mason, 53, in 1995. The two now live in Cambridge near the university.
His former wife, Jane Hawking, who wrote a memoir about their time together, has urged police to investigate the reported abuses he suffered. Recently, she said she and their three adult children have long suspected that he had suffered repeated, unexplained assaults, some of them reported by his full-time nurses, but that he refused to take action.
During their investigation, Cambridgeshire police also are expected to question some of Hawking's previous nurses.
CP 0738ES 18-03-04
Hawking, 62, who is paralysed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was interviewed Wednesday by Cambridgeshire police at Papworth Hospital, said force spokesperson Tony Taylorson.
It was the first time police have spoken to Hawking since opening an investigation late last year into reports that he suffered mysterious injuries, including a broken wrist, gashes to the face and a cut lip.
For more than 40 years, sclerosis has deprived the scientist of the ability to speak or to move, except for a few fingers he uses to operate a computerized voice box.
Despite his severe disabilities, Hawking is one of the world's best-known scientists. He serves as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton, and is author of the bestselling book A Brief History of Time.
In January, Hawking suffered from pneumonia and was admitted to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge. He has since been moved to Papworth Hospital in the town of Papworth Everad.
"We spoke with Prof. Hawking for the first time on Wednesday in connection with allegations of abuse against him," said Taylorson. ``I can't say anything more about the case," which was opened late last year.
Hawking has dismissed allegations that he was assaulted or abused at his home in Cambridge as "completely false." Stories in the British press have contained sometimes lurid allegations attributed to unidentified nurses and others who have cared for him.
The scientist, who divorced his first wife after 26 years, married his nurse, Elaine Mason, 53, in 1995. The two now live in Cambridge near the university.
His former wife, Jane Hawking, who wrote a memoir about their time together, has urged police to investigate the reported abuses he suffered. Recently, she said she and their three adult children have long suspected that he had suffered repeated, unexplained assaults, some of them reported by his full-time nurses, but that he refused to take action.
During their investigation, Cambridgeshire police also are expected to question some of Hawking's previous nurses.
CP 0738ES 18-03-04