Family to sue over meth house disaster
A FAMILY who unwittingly lived in a house with dangerous levels of methamphetamine residue plan to take their former real estate agent to court, claiming loss of personal goods and threat to life.
Sophie and Anthony Turner, and their two children, 19 and 13, moved into a fourbedroom home in Bundall on December 15, 2017, but became ill within weeks.
As revealed by the Bulletin last year, it wasn’t until six months later that the house was tested for methamphetamine residue.
At the time, Meth Screen managing director Ryan Matthews, whose company tested the house, said the levels of methamphetamine in the home were 20 times higher than the safety guidelines of 0.5 micrograms.
The Professionals Bundall, which has since closed down, was ordered by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to pay $2120 to the family.
However, the Turners say they will lodge a civil claim in the magistrates court for loss of personal goods and threat to life over the contamination that they believe seriously affcted their health, as well as leaving them out of pocket.
The family said they were forced to get rid of nearly all their belongings due to the contamination.
“The fridge, freezer, beds, clothing, chairs, tables, everything that had a surface had to be replaced,” Mrs Turner said. “That’s about $30,000 worth.”
Further testing of the family’s hair follicles by Flinders University researcher Dr Jackie Wright found at least one of their children had been exposed to environmental chemical residue while at the property.
“My research focuses on other exposure that might have gone on at the property, particularly drug use, how (the family) might have been exposed to it and how it got into their system,” she said.
“I look at the hair matrix itself and look at the health effects.
“We found low levels on their son’s hair, but not the adults. It doesn’t mean they weren’t exposed … children tend to be more exposed than adults, they’re touching surfaces more often, things such as that.”
Dr Wright said the health problems the family had experienced were “consistent” with health issues she had seen at other similarly affected properties.
“Headaches were big issues with the adults, being ‘foggy’ so you can’t make good decisions, respiratory issues, not sleeping, and rashes,” she said.
“Their son had rashes, respiratory issues, sleep problems, and behavioural issues to the point that even his school noticed the change.
“They’ve got significant problems, and it doesn’t stop there.”
The Professionals contacted for comment. were