MAREEBA’S Mayor Tom Gilmore has expressed his “deepest disappointment” after hearing that a man had allegedly drunk drove in the old Mareeba Cemetery and damaged grave sites.
A 45-year-old Mareeba man has been charged with one count of wilful damage, one count of driving under the influence of liquor and one count of obstruct police while affected by an intoxicating substance.
“People who deliberately deface the memorials to loved ones, meaning the graves, the artefacts on that grave, quite simply have no place in the community,” Cr Tom Gilmore said.
“They out to go somewhere else because they’re unworthy.”
“I am shocked. I thought we lived in a civil society where we respected everyone and everything.”
It will be alleged that about 7:45pm on Saturday, a 45-year-old man drove his dual cab ute into the old Mareeba Cemetery where he collided with a number of grave stones causing damage to three grave sites including headstones and decorative fencing.
Police confirmed the man’s vehicle became stuck and he was arrested by police.
He will appear in the Mareeba Magistrates Court on December 11.
It is not the first time Cr Gilmore has spoken out against cemetery destruction.
Four children, aged eight to 10, were dealt with under the Youth Justices Act for vandalising the Mareeba Cemetery on Mother’s Day in 2015.
And in November 2014 a group of juveniles were caught trashing graves at the Mareeba Cemetery.
“There is no excuse for this type of behaviour,” he said.
The Cairns Post, 27 November 2017.