SINN Fein last night threw its weight behind a mother’s campaign to fight the closure of maternity services in Downpatrick. Last week Marie Perry was granted leave for a judicial review against Down Lisburn Trust for alleged mismanagement. Ms Perry launched the legal challenge last December, claiming that her life and that of her then unborn baby would be at risk if the birth was delayed and she had to be admitted to another hospital because of the Downpatrick unit’s uncertain future. Last night Sinn Fein’s Aiden Carlin welcomed the boost in the 19-year-old’s fight to safeguard services. The Down district councillor said: “No issue is closer to local people’s hearts than the fate of Downpatrick Maternity Hospital. “Marie Perry’s legal challenge to the Down Lisburn Trust’s management of the hospitals is the most significant in the history of the longstanding campaign for their retention and enhancement. “The population of Down is behind Maire and her Madden & Finucane legal team,” he said. “As a single mother from the second most economically deprived ward in Down District she symbolises those who will be most disadvantaged by a loss of local hospital services.”