Biggest stories to shake Townsville in April 2020
FROM federal police raids and coronial inquests, to coronavirus and fatal crashes, April was a big month for news in Townsville. READ THE BIGGEST EVENTS >>
Townsville
Don't miss out on the headlines from Townsville. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FROM federal police raids and coronial inquests, to coronavirus and fatal crashes, April was a big month for news in Townsville.
Here are some of the biggest stories that shook the city.
April 1
THE tight grip of crime loosened from around Townsville at the beginning of April, as new police statistics showed a moment of reprieve for the city’s police as they battled to adapt to coronavirus enforcement.
Queensland Police data showed crime decreased 26 per cent in the from March to April with the region’s new top police officer attributing the decline to more than just COVID-19 government regulations.
Assistant Commissioner for Northern Region Brett Schafferius said it was extremely difficult to pinpoint one explanation for the drop, but welcomed it “with open arms”.
April 2
LUNCHES remained on a kitchen bench and school uniforms folded as a North Queensland mother was confronted with the blackened, mangled scene of a caravan explosion where her sleeping children perished.
This was the horrific scene of a shocking murder-suicide where Katherine Hinder’s ex-partner killed himself and her two children, Nyobi, 7, and River, 4, in 2015 in an act of “spousal revenge” coinciding with the breakdown of their marriage two months earlier.
The explosion left first responders traumatised and was felt more than 2km away.
The Coroner’s Court of Queensland released the findings of the investigation in April, 2020, and detailed the extent of emotional abuse, industry oversights and how the children may have spent their final moments before they were murdered by the monster who was meant to protect them at all costs.
April 3
Townsville’s frontline healthcare workers prepared for a worst-case scenario as they tackled the coronavirus crisis.
The Townsville Bulletin revealed the Townsville University Hospital had increased its capacity to treat COVID-19 patients both in the emergency department and the community.
The ED now had five negative pressure rooms, which help prevent the spread of infectious particles and provide safety to hospital staff and patients, as well as a dedicated resuscitation area for COVID-19 patients, along with six respiratory beds.
April 4
A CREW of men were dramatically brought back to Townsville by water police last night after allegedly trying to sneak back to Palm Island in their boat, despite it being locked down amid the coronavirus crisis.
Five men were charged with allegedly breaking strict coronavirus biosecurity laws by entering a remote community in lockdown.
Acting Chief Superintendent Glen Pointing said the whole reason for the laws was to protect the community.
April 6
TOWNSVILLE threw its hand up in a bid to rescue the NRL with the city the perfect location to isolate players from the wider community amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With two purpose-built stadiums, including the $293 million Queensland Country Bank Stadium, the capital of North Queensland seems the logical choice for the NRL innovation committee.
April 7
THE smell of burning rubber and the crunch of metal brought back haunting memories for a Townsville woman whose Sunday drive to the markets took a terrifying turn.
Tanya Brabon, 49, thought she was safe while cruising through a green light on Ross River Rd when a car, allegedly stolen and driven by a juvenile, appeared in front of her SUV without warning.
She slammed her foot on the brake but it was too late.
“I saw the car two seconds before I hit it … it all happened so fast,” she said. “You never expect something like that to happen to you.”
Police confirmed the car, a blue sedan, was one of two vehicles stolen from an Idalia home days earlier and was involved in multiple fuel drive-offs before the crash.
April 8
A Townsville man at the centre of an Australian Federal Police investigation sensationally claimed he had nothing to hide earlier this year after officers raided a number of his properties.
Townsville Show Society secretary-manager Chris Condon said he was “fully co-operating with the authorities” after they converged on the Townsville Showgrounds administration building in April.
Detectives were seen rummaging through documents and searching some of the buildings.
AFP has confirmed they are still investigating the matter.
April 13
HERBERT MP Phillip Thompson sensationally broke ranks from the LNP over the use of ADF members to trial a potential COVID-19 vaccine, claiming he does not want soldiers treated like “guinea pigs”.
The ADF has been granted ethical approval to carry out a clinical trial of the drug chloroquine despite the World Health Organisation saying there is not enough definitive evidence that it will work.
Mr Thompson, who spoke out about a similar ADF clinical trial of antimalarial drugs in the early 2000s, said he feared our Diggers would feel they had no choice but to be part of the trial. Instead he has called for the heads of the defence force and army to be the test subjects.
April 14
A SELF-confessed “cannibal” threatened to rape, kill and eat his victims in a terrifying attack at a Townsville liquor store, leaving his victims emotionally scarred.
Adrian Dami, 24, faced the Townsville District Court over charges of common assault and robbery with actual violence.
The court heard Dami and a co-accused approached two men in a Townsville bottle shop car park, demanding alcohol and money.
Dami then pinned one of the men to a car and held his forearm to his chest, telling him he was a cannibal and would rape, murder and eat him if he told anyone what had happened.
April 15
A GROUP of female prisoners had to be gassed on Easter Sunday after they began rioting over being reprimanded for flashing their breasts.
The Townsville Bulletin revealed the Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre called the Emergency Response Team to subdue a riot on Easter Sunday.
The team was forced to use gas on the women after they began destroying a secure unit after prisoners received breach paperwork for exposing their breasts to contract cleaners.
Meanwhile, the number of juveniles locked up at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre doubled in a matter of weeks with only a handful of beds to spare, as restrictions tightened to spare detainees from the risk of coronavirus.
April 16
THE owner of The Ville Resort-Casino cashed in more than $10.5 million in shares to help cover the entitlements of 1500 staff, out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chris Morris, the entrepreneur who founded tech company Computershare and who owns the casino, Orpheus Island Resort and other North Queensland assets, reported the sale of a million of his 32,000,000 Computershare shares.
In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange Mr Morris said he sold a small part of his holding to provide liquidity for his hospitality and tourism related businesses.
April 17
NORTH Queensland’s aviation industry was handed a lifeline after the Federal Government announced it would subsidise flights operated by Qantas and Virgin Australia Groups on critical metropolitan and regional routes including Townsville.
The initial $165 million injection would include all state and territory capital cities and is in addition to the more than $1 billion in Commonwealth support for aviation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 18
A TOWNSVILLE father who was killed in a tragic motorbike crash was remembered as a caring partner who would “give the shirt off his back”.
Dylan Cahill, 26, spent his last hours surrounded by his four children and partner, Jemmah Smith, before the incident that changed their lives forever.
The details of the crash at Mount Low are unclear as police try to piece together what happened but Ms Smith has vowed to keep the adoring dad’s memory alive.
April 20
THERE were fears a new COVID-19 case had emerged in the city after Queensland Health added an additional case to Townsville’s coronavirus tally.
Queensland Health data released yesterday afternoon brought the total number of cases in Townsville to 24, despite the Townsville Hospital and Health Service data compiled from the hospital’s records, reporting only 23 cases since the pandemic began.
Townsville health authorities revealed that a lag in data had caused a weeks-old and no-longer-active case to be listed.
THHS chief executive Kieran Keyes confirmed there wasn’t a new case of COVID-19 in the region.
April 21
TOWNSVILLE has reached a major coronavirus milestone with no new cases recorded in 12 days, and now community leaders have reignited the push for regional economic zones.
Queensland reported no new COVID-19 cases and the Townsville Hospital and Health Service listed just two active cases.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said positive COVID-19 figures would mean some restrictions could be lifted as soon as mid-June, but North Queensland leaders wanted action now.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said if the state continued to record little to no COVID-19 cases, the Government would consider lifting some restrictions but she still refused to budge on a regional zone model.
Federal MP for Herbert Phillip Thompson said Townsville should not have to wait if strict and enforceable travel restrictions were put in place. He said the Government should be locking down the North straight away so the community can “get back to some normality”.
April 22
A TOWNSVILLE carer was charged with more than 30 offences for allegedly drugging and raping disabled men he lured into his care.
Townsville Criminal Investigation Branch detectives arrested the 40-year-old man after one of the victims came forward and detailed seven months of alleged abuse.
Police allege the man lured three men, aged 18, 21 and 40, into his care before falsifying their medical records to access drugs, defrauding government agencies out of more than $100,000 and committing sexual acts on them.
April 23
PRESSURE to open Townsville businesses ramped up as the region hit 14 days without any new coronavirus cases, with calls for a date to be set.
Owner of the award-winning JAM and Bridgewater restaurants in South Townsville Matt Merrin said the State Government needed to allow the city to “get back to business”.
“Now that we’ve had zero cases in Townsville for the past 14 days, it’s clear we need to start trying to make a decision of when and how we can safely get businesses open again,” he said.
“The question that needs to be put to the Premier (Annastacia Palaszczuk) is, if Brisbane hadn’t had any new cases in two weeks, but Townsville had some active cases, would businesses be open?
April 24
TERRY James spent his army career disarming roadside bombs in some of the most dangerous places in the Middle East.
The 46-year-old veteran has revealed he is one of two former Townsville defence force personnel responsible for the Light Up The Dawn national movement for Anzac Day.
“I initially posted the idea on my own Facebook page and then on some other veteran and ADF posts as well,” the retired Warrant Officer said.
“I’m absolutely surprised and shocked that it’s taken off as much as it has. “I’m proud of Australia for taking it on.”
April 25
GOVERNMENT-RUN aged care homes were told to end their COVID-19 lockdowns and reopen to visitors after an embarrassing revelation they were among the facilities labelled “cruel” by the Premier.
It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison also hit out at aged care homes banning visitors, declaring the Federal Government would intervene to make it mandatory for each resident to be allowed two visitors a day if facilities continued the lockdowns.
Queensland’s Director General of Health scrambled to contact all 16 state-run homes after News Corp Australia inquired into why at least six of them were not allowing visitors, despite threats to name and shame offending centres by a “shocked and concerned” Annastacia Palaszczuk.
April 27
A thief left a Deeragun man in crippling pain after stealing packages of medicinal pot from the postal system.
Kevin Skinner, 56, who lives with chronic pain from a workplace injury was finding his life was being transformed after joining a medicinal marijuana trial.
He was receiving the packages of marijuana through the post and getting huge relief from the pain for six months until they started mysteriously disappearing.
A total of three shipments did not arrive costing Mr Skinner more than $800. Australia Post has refused to reimburse any money.
April 28
TOWNSVILLE Mayor Jenny Hill refused to download the Federal Government’s COVID-19 tracking app because data will be stored by an overseas company.
US giant Amazon won the data storage contract and Cr Hill believed the deal should have gone to an Aussie company.
“I would have liked the Federal Government to support businesses in our community. We have data centres in and around Australia that could have provided a secure system.”
April 29
A TOWNSVILLE business known for cutting-edge sports apparel is ready to launch an assault on the American market.
EMU Sportswear has felt the pinch of COVID-19 as much as anyone else, but it hasn’t let it deter it from kicking goals.
Managing director John Short said the company was in a strong position prior to the pandemic, which has allowed it to stay afloat.
April 30
A TOWNSVILLE teenager sparked online outrage after a video of her blowing smoke from a bong into her two-and-a-half-year-old brother’s face emerged online.
Townsville Police were inundated with calls from the public and honed in on the 17-year-old Heatley girl within an hour of being notified.
Child safety advocates have slammed the behaviour.
Originally published as Biggest stories to shake Townsville in April 2020
AWU blasts council CEO over ‘exorbitant salary’
The Australian Workers Union has lashed out at Townsville City Council CEO Joe McCabe’s “exorbitant salary” in an escalating war of words over staff pay.
New TUH theatre set to cut down wait times an Australian first
Hospital’s new hybrid theatre set to make it easier for people to get the care they need, closer to home.