Townsville’s Nicholas Hering’s car stolen, as the Katter Australia Party calls for ‘emergency action’

When Nicholas Hering received a call from the police asking if he knew where his car was, he had no idea his keys had been stolen, just metres from his sleeping baby.

Nicholas Hering had two cars stolen from his house.

When Nicholas Hering received a call from the police asking if he knew where his car was, he had no idea his keys had been stolen, just metres from his sleeping baby.

Over the weekend Mr Hering had both his and his fiance’s cars were stolen from their property while they were watching TV.

“I got a call from an unknown number,” he said.

“It was a police officer asking me if I knew where my car was. I jokingly said ‘at the front of my house, hopefully’. He said ‘well actually no, it’s screaming through Kirwan at the moment’. I got up frantically because my 10 month old baby is at the front of his house as well.”

Upon inspection Mr Hering saw that the front door was unlocked with a hole through the lock system and discovered both cars were gone; a Ford Raptor and a Haval EV.

Mr Hering said he was told by multiple people that the Ford Raptor ute, which is branded with his personal training business, was being driven dangerously around the city.

“I had a 60-year-old lady, who I’ve known my whole life, message me saying that my car almost T-boned her at an intersection. If something had happened to her, I wouldn’t have been able to live with that even though it wasn’t me driving.”

Making posts to Facebook asking the public for updates on the location of the car, Mr Hering said he was blown away by the support from the Townsville community.

“We were getting updated every 10 to 15 minutes on where it was, I had friends reaching out to me and fellow people in business,” he said.

Hinchinbrook MP and KAP Deputy Leader Nick Dametto outside the Townsville court complex. Picture: Supplied

“It was pretty outstanding the level of support where the community banded together.”

Having known about the stolen car issues in recent years, Mr Hering said it was a stark reminder to check and lock doors every night, but it shouldn’t be that way.

“You kind of ask yourself why should we have to,” he said.

“This is a community where we all deserve to feel safe and we deserve to go to bed every night and not lose sleep over the thought that someone is going to break into our house and take our keys and joy ride and potentially hurt someone.”

Katter’s Australia Party deputy leader Nick Dametto said the crisis was reaching ‘fever pitch’.

“The KAP has been calling for a number of measures to be implemented for some time now and we are seeing the government come forward in part to claim the Intensive On Country Program, as one of their solutions which closely aligns with the KAP Relocation Sentencing Policy,” he said.

“We’ve also seen the LNP come out and call for Adult Crime Adult Time, which completely mirrors what the KAP has been talking about as well as removing detention as a last resort.”

Mr Dametto said with the state election three months away, frustrated locals were calling for more to be done now.

“Residents in Townsville and victims are telling me that they can’t deal with another six months of this crime spiralling out of control, these heinous acts, the motor vehicle theft, the home invasions,” he said.

“Kids are interacting with adult offenders. They are either being rewarded or egged on by these adult perpetrators that are using these kids.”

Originally published as Townsville’s Nicholas Hering’s car stolen, as the Katter Australia Party calls for ‘emergency action’