Ex manager of Whiskey Au Go Go quit after a bomb was planted in his car months before deadly attack

Former manager of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub resigned after he discovered a bomb in his car months before the deadly arson attack.

A former manager of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub quit his job after he was the victim of a failed car bombing in the months before the deadly arson attack.

At an inquest into the nightclub fire which claimed 15 lives, Bill McAlary on Tuesday told the Brisbane Coroners Court that he had been the manager of the doomed nightclub from late 1972 to early 1973.

But Mr McAlary said he quit his position after a bomb was planted in his car while he worked a shift in January 1973, months before the venue was firebombed in March.

The McAlary said he had started to leave work at one point in the night and got half way to his car before realising he needed to do another job, which took about an hour.

When he arrived at his car, he said there was a thick smoke inside the vehicle and a strong acrid smell.

Interior pictures of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub taken by Police at the time of the fire where 15 people lost their lives, these pictures are from the Inquest into the Whiskey Au Go Go fire

“So I rang the (Fortitude) Valley police and (a police officer) came and had a look and said ‘I think they bloody intended bombing your car’,” Mr McAlary told the court.

“He said if I had of gone down when I first said I was going to go down, in his opinion it would have exploded.

“But it ran out of oxygen in the time that I went upstairs and did those few jobs I needed to do. It ran out of oxygen and when I opened the door it didn’t reignite.”

Mr McAlary said more police came and inspected the vehicle and took fingerprints.

“It was pretty serious at the time I thought and so did the police,” he said.

Mr McAlary said by the time the police finished investigating, it was the early hours of the morning and he recalled being followed home by another car.

Interior pictures of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub taken by Police at the time of the fire where 15 people lost their lives, these pictures are from the Inquest into the Whiskey Au Go Go fire

“After I left Whiskey, at that hour of the morning in Brisbane there was very little traffic around in those days, and I did notice set of lights behind me that seemed to go wherever I was going,” he said.

“I took a couple of extra turns than I’d normally take on my way home and they followed me around through there.”

Mr McAlary said he eventually managed to lose the car following him and he could not identify the type of vehicle or the driver.

Mr McAlary said he had not received any warning or threats prior to the failed car bombing but said that fellow manager John Farr, who managed the Whiskey’s sister nightclub Chequers, had spoken of being threatened.

“He did say he had some shots fired through his roof and they had threatened his family and himself,” he said.

Counsel Assisting the coroner Avelina Tarrago asked: “Do you ever recall an occasion where John Farr brought the takings from Chequers with three blokes who were as you say in your statement ‘armed to the teeth with shotguns and rifles’?”

Exterior pictures of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub taken by Police at the time of the fire where 15 people lost their lives, these pictures are from the Inquest into the Whiskey Au Go Go fire

“Yes I remember that very well,” Mr McAlary said.

“I was downstairs waiting for them to turn up…and a car came around the corner and pulled up out the front and I was standing there.

“I casually walked over to say g’day and I looked in and here’s these blokes, there were four in the car and I said what are you fellas up to, you’ve got a fair bit of ammunition there.”

Mr McAlary said the men were armed with shotguns and rifles and John Farr told him he had been threatened.

“It came as a big shock to me, in the middle of Brisbane these fellas running around with weapons at that hour of the morning,” he said.

“Yes he (Mr Farr) said ‘they’ve been shooting at me, I need some protection’.

“I said, ‘what the hell is going on with all this armoury’, and he said ‘they’ve been shooting holes in the roof….so we decided to arm ourselves and protect ourselves’.”

Mr McAlary said he was never told who had made the alleged threats.

The inquest continues.