Police issue warning after grisly playground find

Parents are warned to check playgrounds before children play.

SCARE: Parents found a partially buried knife in the sand near where their children were playing in Kingaroy's Memorial Park playground. Picture: Contributed

A MORNING outing at the playground has resulted in a stern reminder from Kingaroy police.

Senior Sergeant David Tierney said parents should check playgrounds before letting their children play, after a knife was found by some mothers on Monday morning.

"It's probably a good idea to check any public equipment you're going to put your kids on," he said.

With syringes also previously found near play equipment in Kingaroy, police urge parents to look before their children play.

"It's best to make sure kids are wearing shoes and the grounds are safe," Snr Sgt Tierney said.

Nanango mother Julie-Ann Ahrens was helping her one-year-old onto the equipment at the Kingaroy Memorial Park playground after 11am on Monday July 23, when she noticed something shiny in the sand.

She found a knife about two inches long sitting upright in the sand, with the sharpened point sitting above the sand.

"There's no way it could've dropped down in the sand like that," Ms Ahrens said.

It was partially buried in the sand and she was shocked to see it there.

"What would've happened if my daughter had fallen on it? She had shoes on, but if she'd fallen over she would've been split open," she said.

The knife was facing a part of the playground where children often jumped off into the sand, Ms Ahrens said.

"There were heaps of kids there at the time, so any one of them could've landed on it," she said.

Ms Ahrens reported the incident to Kingaroy police, who will dispose of the knife.

Police on night watch regularly check the playgrounds and will speak to anyone suspiciously hanging around.

Snr Sgt Tierney said someone caught leaving dangerous objects in the playground could be charged with a variety of charges, such setting up man traps.

Originally published as Police issue warning after grisly playground find