REDLANDS MP Matt McEachan has again called for the closure of a Thornlands drug rehabilitation centre after revelations that a drug debt enforcer shot dead on the Gold Coast had lived at the facility.
Ace John Anthony Hall died after being shot at an industrial estate at Tweed Heads on June 25.
Mr Hall was bailed to Breaking Through Transitional Services after appearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 5.
We’ve already had home invasions, robberies and assaults. What is it going to take?
- MP Matt McEachan
The Bulletin understands that he reported as part of bail conditions to Cleveland police station but failed to appear on May 22.
Mr McEachan said having serious offenders at the facility illustrated it was a danger to community safety.
“I call on the Labor government to intervene and close this facility,” he said. “We’ve already had home invasions, robberies and assaults. What is it going to take?”
On June 27, Queensland police arrested a 33-year-old man, who was charged with Mr Hall’s murder after being extradited to NSW.
Residents of Woodlands Drive – where the facility is located – said at a meeting called by Mr McEachan in March they had seen a woman beaten up and people fighting, heard gunshots and their homes had been broken into.
Cleveland police station’s officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Janelle Harm said at the meeting police regularly attended the facility to conduct bail compliance checks on residents on bail from the Supreme and District courts.
In August, a centre resident told the Wynnum Magistrates Court the only drug users he associated with were at the facility.
According to a court transcript, the resident asked to be an outpatient, saying it was “like living with a bunch of zombies”.
He referred to prescription medication and said some inmates could barely hold a conversation.
They were not allowed a phone and his lawyer and parents struggled to contact him because “the admin services isn’t really good there”.
Breaking Through did not respond to requests for comment.
