Syringe hidden in toilet paper holder
The deliberate planting of a syringe in a toilet paper dispenser in an Upper Hutt public toilet has raised safety concerns.
The uncapped needle was fixed on and partly hanging below a metal cover. It was discovered by a woman on Monday night.
It was in a pair of toilets on Centre Walk, a pedestrian way which runs from the Main St.
‘‘Thankfully my daughter spotted it as she went to sit down but it was well hidden. It was intentionally set up, that’s for sure,’’ the mother of the needle finder said.
The pair, who did not want to be named, believed the incident was serious and the public should be aware of the possible danger.
The daughter, who is in her late 20s, had been quite scared at finding the syringe. ’’She took some photos and then she removed the syringe with paper around her hands and dumped it in the sanitary bin.
‘‘I think it’s really worrying with junkies’ needles and the like. I guess also that it it could even have been kids doing it as a prank, who knows?
‘‘It’s obvious they went out of their way to do this in a public place, why else were they doing it? It would have been so easy to prick yourself. People really need to know if this sort of thing is happening.’’
Upper Hutt City Council operations director Lachlan Wallach said the toilets were cleaned every day around 7am.
‘‘It’s good we have been made aware of this. We do get needles left on he floor of those toilets sometimes but I’ve certainly never heard of this happening before,’’ he said.