Residents in a Canterbury suburb are battling to have an intellecutally disabled HIV-positive man removed from their neighbourhood. Christopher Truscott, terminally ill with HIV-related conditions, was moved into a home in the Selwyn district last week amid concerns from some residents that he posed a threat to the community. Truscott was prosecuted in 1999 for having unprotected sex with four men. He now has around-the-clock care, but some residents say he is effectively being detained which is outside the remit of the Selwyn district plan. "I consider there's a health issue and a danger to other people...if he's wandering round and depositing his bodily fluids," says nearby resident Jim McKim. Canterbury medical officer of health Dr Alistair Humphrey pointed out that unless residents chose to have unsafe sex with Truscott, they were in no danger. "Mr Truscott is supervised; he is not locked in. The staff caring for him are to look after his best interests," he says. "It's unfair that any member of the community should be persecuted because of an illness he has." The Selwyn District Council is currently seeking a legal opinion on the word "detained". If it can be proven that Truscott's presence in the area fits the legal definition of "detained", residents will effectively have the right to have Truscott removed from their community.