Editorial: Whiskey Au Go Go killer James Finch must give full facts to new inquest

IT IS essential the full facts surrounding the Whiskey Au Go Go murders are uncovered in order to close this dark chapter.James Finch is crucial to that process, writes the Editor.

Convicted Whiskey Au Go Go firebomber James Finch at his home in the UK. Picture: Ella Pellegrini.

THE firebombing of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Brisbane 45 years ago remains a sickening stain on Queensland history.

The remains of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub on St Paul's Terrace after 15 people died in a firebomb in 1973. Picture: File Photo

And it will stick in the craw of many that James Finch – one of the two people convicted over the appalling mass murder – has enjoyed most of those 45 years as a free man.

A low-life and known associate of violent criminals, Finch had already served seven years of a 14-year sentence for malicious wounding with a firearm when he and his mate John Andrew Stuart were arrested for the horrific 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go attack.

Stuart died six years later. Finch was released and deported to the UK after serving 15 years in prison – a measly year for each of the 15 innocent lives taken.

After 30 years living in the shadows, the now 74-year-old has emerged, tracked down by The Sunday Mail reporter Domanii Cameron.

He cuts a sad figure these days, a shambling character living out his days in an ­ordinary house in a nondescript street of a densely-populated borough in Essex, east of London.

But don’t waste one second of sympathy on the ­pathetic Finch.

He is evil personified and remains as slippery a piece of work as ever he was.

James Finch is escorted to his deportation flight from Brisbane Airport to England in 1988, after serving 15 years of a life sentence.

While fiercely refuting that he made the confession to police, on which he was convicted, he pointedly dodged properly answering whether he committed the crime.

He did not express even one iota of remorse for the people who died in the nightmarish inferno.

Finch also repeatedly contradicted himself and while claiming to suffer some mental illness, was remarkably sharp and focused on his joy that corrupt cop Roger Rogerson had been jailed.

What is beyond doubt is that Finch knows plenty about what happened at that Fortitude Valley nightclub in the early hours of March 8, 1973; and about others who were involved in his heinous crime.

Authorities should take up Finch’s bizarre offer to take a lie-detector test.

While the results of the technology cannot be used in criminal proceedings, the opportunity to subject Finch to a fresh interrogation by a new generation of investigators is one that should be seized.

The decision by Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath last year to take up the charge and open an inquest into the fatal fire following The Courier-Mail’s campaign is commendable.

Grieving families of the victims and indeed all Queenslanders, deserve to know who else was involved in planning the abhorrent crime.

It is essential that the full facts surrounding the Whiskey Au Go Go murders be uncovered in order to close this dark chapter.

James Finch is crucial to that process.

***

SURROGATE MUM’S ACT SHOWS TRUE SPIRIT OF HUMAN KINDNESS

The Sunday Mail’s story today about surrogate mum Jess Newman is nothing short of extraordinary.

Jess Newman is 35 weeks pregnant and an altruistic surrogate. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

This Brisbane mother-of-four, with the support of her husband Chris, will on Tuesday give birth to a baby and immediately hand it to another couple who, before they went through the surrogacy process, were complete strangers.

While surrogacy is a subject which can divide opinions, it is impossible to feel anything but the deepest admiration for Jess’s remarkable selflessness

Many couples have to live with the anguish of being unable to have the children they desperately yearn for.

Her willingness to volunteer to help make that gift of life a reality is an incredible act of altruism.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Kelvin Healey, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at couriermail.com.au