Jail over bid to poison homeless

A former Townsville City Council worker who left bottles laced with chemicals near a park frequented by the homeless has been handed a 12 month jail term.

A former north Queensland council worker has been sentenced to 12 months' jail for trying to poison homeless people in a park.

Neville Douglas Welsh had been accused of deliberately leaving bottles laced with methylated spirits and weed killer around Townsville's Dean Park.

Groups of homeless people were known to congregate in the area.

The former Townsville City Council worker was sentenced to 12 months' jail by Judge Anthony Rafter on Wednesday.

This will be suspended after six months for an operational period of two years, the Townsville Bulletin reports.

A Townsville District Court jury had found the 65-year-old guilty of attempting to injure by noxious substance the day before.

During the time of the incident, Welsh had been employed as a street cleaner.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world