Queensland family left homeless after their Sandstone Point rental property made them sick
A Queensland family has been left homeless after falling ill from their rental home in Sandstone Point
- The home of a family of six was contaminated with meth
- It is alleged that previous tenants ran a drug lab
- Meth residue can be deadly, especially for young children
- READ MORE: Home destroyed after tenants cooked meth
A family of six who suddenly became “disgustingly ill” after moving into their new rental home were shocked to learn it was riddled with methamphetamine.
Queensland mother Emily Thornton said she became suspicious of something poisonous in her family’s Sandstone Point home in north Brisbane shortly after she moved in.
She decided to have the house tested after talking to neighbors who were suspicious of previous tenants but were told by her landlord that she would have to pay for it.
After paying $500, the horrified mother discovered her home contained nearly three times the safe amount of methamphetamine.
The safe level of meth residue is less than 0.5 micrograms per 100 square cm – the family’s home contained 1.3 micrograms per 100 square cm.
Emily Thornton (pictured just outside the home with her children and husband) said she found her new rental home in north Brisbane contained nearly three times the safe amount of meth residue after paying for a test herself
It is alleged that the house’s previous tenants ran a meth lab.
Meth contamination can cause extreme illness and even death, especially in young children.
Ms Thornton said the residue was found all over the family’s home, including the children’s playroom.
The landlord has offered to clean the house, but in the meantime the family has to pay for emergency shelter themselves.
“We’re not actually allowed in there, we’re starting from scratch – we have nothing, nothing at all,” Ms Thornton told me 7News.
“They told us to just leave, we just took what we got and walked out the door.”
She and her husband said they cannot afford to find temporary shelter and do not know where they will go.
“We just don’t know what we’re going to do. We don’t have the money to pay for it,” said Ms Thornton.
The family of six has been told to arrange their own emergency shelter, which they cannot afford, while the meth is cleaned from the house (pictured, a positive meth test done at the house)
Australian Meth Alerts spokesperson David Pie said the drug’s residue is invisible and odorless and so often goes undetected by standard rent change checks.
However, he said meth contamination is a “known” problem in the real estate industry and called for regular detection tests to be mandated.
“It’s gotten out of hand and it’s just being ignored,” he said.