‘Bombs everywhere’: Man threatens to blow up Grand Central Shopping Centre

After a man made multiple calls to triple zero threatening to blow up a Toowoomba shopping centre with butane gas canisters, he was found huffing the gas in a stormwater drain.

Allan Gordon Hooper. Picture: Social media

A Toowoomba court heard a homeless Townsville man threatened to blow up a major Darling Downs shopping centre as a ‘cry for help,’.

Allan Gordon Hooper has been remanded in custody for almost a year since he called in the bomb threat at Toowoomba’s Grand Central Shopping Centre after hours on November 8, 2023.

When the 38-year-old was sentenced at the Toowoomba District Court on Monday, September 2, the court heard at the time of the offending he had just been released from jail on parole and was struggling with homelessness.

The court heard Hooper called triple-zero five times.
The first time he told the operator that police were needed at the centre because he was going to “blow it up”.

Toowoomba and Townsville man Allan Gordon Hooper. Picture: Social media

During the second call, he repeatedly said he had a bomb, and that there were bombs all over Queensland before hanging up the call.

The third time he said he was going to blow himself up and asked for an ambulance because he had just been released from the hospital.

Eventually, Hooper gave the operator his name and later told police he wanted to go back to prison because he wanted to stop using drugs.

After a search of the centre, which was not open to the public, police found Hooper in a stormwater drain surrounded by used needles and his personal effects.

He was sniffing the gas while holding up an ignited lighter and warned the officers if they came any closer he would ignite the gas, however he was eventually arrested and taken to hospital for an emergency examination.

During an arrest in the past, the court heard an intoxicated Hooper had two butane gas bottles in his hand, a lighter in his pocket, and told police he’d been “smoking cones and sniffing gas” and he was ready to blow people up.

The court heard Hooper, who lived with numerous mental health challenges and was sexually abused as a child, had a lengthy and consistent criminal history.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC convicted and not further punished Hooper before the Toowoomba District Court on Monday, September 2, 2024.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC said the hoax was a “clear attempt to get help,” that Hooper suffered from psychological issues, and he would need support in the community upon his release.

Judge Lynch said the 298 days Hooper spent in custody was a greater penalty than what would usually be imposed for such a crime.

The court heard the penalty at its highest would have been a six-month jail term.

Hooper was convicted and not further punished after pleading guilty to making a bomb threat, threatening an officer with violence, obstructing police, and possessing a small amount of cannabis which was found in his pocket.

The court heard Hooper intends to move back to Townsville.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as ‘Bombs everywhere’: Man threatens to blow up Grand Central Shopping Centre