Schools Searched As Police Hunt Rat Poison 'lunatic'

The Age

Wednesday August 9, 2006

BEN DOHERTY

MORE than 750 schools in Brisbane were searched for rat poison yesterday after a children's playground in the city's north was contaminated and a threat made to plant the poison at three schools around the city.

A search of primary and high schools across Brisbane failed to discover any poison following a threat made on Monday night.

But the Kidspace playground in Chermside was closed following the discovery of green pellets around the site. "Early testing shows that it is Ratsak," Queensland Police Chief Superintendent Paul Wilson said.

A man in the northern suburb of Nundah who went to check his fuse box about 8pm on Monday following a power blackout found a note on the box saying the Kidspace playground in nearby Chermside had been poisoned, along with three unnamed Brisbane schools.

The note read: "I have poised (sic) Kidspace Chermide (sic) and three schools around Brisbane. Try finding."

A similar incident occurred on Sunday night when a woman went to her fuse box following a blackout to find a similar note. Police would not reveal what this note said, saying only that it was not a threat but written in the same style as the Nundah note.

Monday's threat sparked a massive hunt across Brisbane, with police setting up a major incident room at their city headquarters and a hotline for concerned parents.

The Government even considered closing every school in the city. "We are taking it very, very seriously," Chief Superintendent Wilson said.

Green pellets, similar to Ratsak, were found at a school in Inala yesterday but these were found not to be poisonous.

Education Minister Rod Welford described the threat to schools as a "disgrace". He said the Government considered closing schools but instead opted for a public alert.

Police patrolled schools on Monday night, and principals and teachers searched grounds before school yesterday. Five schools reported suspicious substances but none were found to be poison.

Premier Peter Beattie described the person making the threat as a lunatic and said anyone with information had a moral obligation to contact police.

"I guess the most important thing is that we urge the community, anyone who has any information, to come forward to the police immediately," he said.

He said several people were under suspicion and doorknocks had been made in Chermside.

"At this stage police are working in conjunction with the schools to make sure of the safety of the students but also we've amassed a large team of detectives, working out of the police headquarters at Boondall in north Brisbane."

Shop owners or staff who have sold rat poison in the past two days have been asked to contact police.

The Ratsak threat is the fourth contamination scare in Queensland this year.

In March, the Sizzler restaurant chain was forced to shut down when Ratsak was found in the salad bars of stores at Toowong and the Brisbane CBD.

In May, Top Taste bakery stopped production when it discovered that metal objects, including needles and razor blades, had been planted in cakes over five months. Last month, farmers in Bowen discovered their water supply had been deliberately contaminated by herbicide Roundup, killing tomato, bean, capsicum and watermelon crops. -- With AAP

© 2006 The Age

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