George Freeleagus testifies at Whiskey Au Go Go inquest

A witness in the Whiskey Au Go Go inquest has strongly denied claims he spread a rumour about who was behind the blaze that killed 15 people.

A witness in the Whiskey Au Go Go inquest has strongly denied claims he spread a rumour that the venue‘s manager had set the deadly nightclub fire as part of an insurance job gone wrong.

George Freeleagus said evidence previously given to the inquest by Vivienne Spooner was “rubbish”.

“Someone’s lying to you and it’s not me, believe me,” he told the inquest.

The Whiskey Au Go Go Nightclub exterior after the firebombing.

Ms Spooner testified that the day after the arson attack in March, 1973, she and her then-boyfriend were at the Caltex service station he managed across the road from the club.

She said a man named George Freeleagus, who she claimed worked at the service station, told her partner Julian Burley that Whiskey manager John Bell “lit the fire and it was for insurance”.

But Mr Freeleagus today said he never worked at the service station and had no idea who Ms Spooner or Mr Burley were.

“I would never have said that about Johnny Bell, for a start why would you tell a service station operator and say something gruesome about that … it’s rubbish,” he said emphatically.

“That really got up my goat, I was never near there I was home … in bed.”

John Bell was the manager of the popular Fortitude Valley nightclub at the time of the blaze which claimed 15 lives.

Interior pictures of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub taken by Police at the time of the fire where 15 people lost their lives.

Mr Freeleagus said he worked as a “general roustabout” for John Hannay a manager at the Whiskey who, the inquest has heard, was sacked in the months before the fire. His work saw him do odd jobs for the Whiskey like cleaning and purchasing food, he said.

Mr Freeleagus angrily rejected accusations made by Whiskey owner Ken Little that he had something to do with a fire at Fortitude Valley’s Alice’s Snackbar in the months before the Whiskey arson.

Asked if he had known beforehand that the Whiskey would be firebombed Mr Freeleagus said “not a thing”.

“Well we knew the ratbags from down south had wanted money out of everyone … that was the gossip at the time,” he said.

Asked who he meant by ratbags he said “ well obviously Stuart and Finch and whoever employed them.”

The Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire aftermath.

John Andrew Stuart and James Finch were charged with the arson and murder arising from the nightclub fire and they were later convicted at trial.

The inquest is seeking to identify whether anyone other than Finch and Stuart played a role in the attack and will assess the adequacy of the investigations into the inferno.