Criminal enemies threaten candidate

A CANDIDATE at the upcoming state election claims his life has been threatened by Townsville’s “underbelly of crime.”

One Nation’s Thuringowa candidate Troy Thompson told the Townsville Bulletin he’d had an axe thrown at him and received death threats following his one-man campaign to expose local crooks.

Mr Thompson claimed that after reporting the threats, he felt his life remained in danger and fled to Brisbane to hide out for more than a week.

“Absolutely, I’ve had to go to police and put complaints in,” Mr Thompson said.

“I think when you’re vocal about crime you disturb the crime network in Townsville. I’ve had five different people threaten me on six occasions.”

Mr Thompson said he did not condone vigilantism and was only approaching “known criminals” to highlight the extent of crime in Townsville as it is a key focus of his election campaigning.

“Part of what I’m trying to demonstrate to people is it’s dangerous out there and police are doing whatever they can to stop it but they’re underresourced,” he said.

“I look at it that we’re not just in a crime wave, we’re on the verge of racial crime war.

“It’s (crime) been very much about race and it doesn’t matter what human you are it’s disgusting (behaviour).”

Mr Thompson said he was aware that he was potentially putting himself in danger.

“I’m conscious of what’s going on and will definitely remove myself from the situation if I feel I’m in danger,” he said. “I’ve had an axe thrown at me, verbal abuse and threats through the door.”

“I rang policelink, I rang the station and then I had to call triple-0 to get any response because that’s how understaffed they (police) are.”