Aunt calls for kinder words
THE woman who raised one of the men who died during the Townsville flood says she knows the pair were “doing the wrong thing but they didn’t deserve to die”.
Selena Morton, aunty of Hughie Morton, 21, said her family had been hurt and angered by comments on social media suggesting the men got what they deserved.
Ms Morton said her family had also seen a lot of racist comments online and implored the public to think of the impact such remarks had on her grieving family.
“The people saying that should have thought about our feelings,” Ms Morton said.
“I know people are angry about crime, cars getting stolen and this flood … they are all frustrated but the things some people have been saying is just taking it too far.”
The bodies of Mr Morton and Troy Mathieson were discovered by police in a stormwater drain in Aitkenvale on Tuesday when waters receded.
It is understood the men jumped into floodwaters in an effort to evade police who were responding to an alleged break and enter at Dan Murphy’s liquor store on Ross River Rd in the early hours of Monday.
Ms Morton conceded her nephew had been involved in crime but said it was mostly “minor”. The grieving aunty described him as the “family clown” who was always willing to help his family.
“He had a very tough life that boy, but he had a good heart,” Ms Morton said.
“He had to come over from Palm (Island) as a boy because of problems with his parents.
“He lived with me in Townsville and went to school and played football.”
The Bulletin had shared three articles about the deaths on Facebook before publishing this story; each of those had to be taken down because of inappropriate comments.
HE HAD A VERY TOUGH LIFE THAT BOY, BUT HE HAD A GOOD HEART SELENA MORTON