Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub killer James Finch’s admission from the grave: ‘I never got over it’

The cold, hard eyes of Whiskey Au Go Go killer James Finch transfixed the Coroner’s Court as he appeared in a 1988 video.

James Finch is his 1988 interview with Dennis Watt. Picture: Supplied by Department of Justice and Attorney-General

The cold, hard eyes and granite face of convicted Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub killer James Finch transfixed the Coroner’s Court in Brisbane on Tuesday as part of the continued inquest into the 1973 mass murder.

Finch appeared in a video interview recorded in London by Brisbane journalist Dennis Watt in late 1988 after the killer was released from jail and extradited home to the UK earlier that year.

Watt, now 68 and chairman of the Gold Coast Titans rugby league club, was called to give ­evidence at the reopened inquest. As a young reporter he told the court he had been a supporter of Finch and his claims of innocence.

Watt said he was shocked, however, when Finch, upon returning to England, backflipped and confessed to the crime more than 15 years after the mass ­murder.

“In my mind an extraordinary betrayal not just of myself, and my family and my friends, but all those good who had made extraordinary sacrifices to support him … to establish his innocence,” Watt said.

Watt, who was the Brisbane Daily Sun’s chief of staff, headed to Finch’s home in the village of Basildon, Essex, with a photo­grapher and secured interviews with Finch where the convicted murderer (along with John ­Andrew Stuart) unequivocally admitted his involvement in the Whiskey firebombing.

It was an extraordinary scoop.

In Watt’s interview, a portion of which was broadcast on ­numerous screens in the Coroner’s Court Tuesday, a clean-shaven Finch sat before the camera in front of a floral curtain backdrop.

His countenance was grim, his language betrayed his limited education.

He said “fings” for “things”. But his message was clear.

Yes, he had been a part of the Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing, as had two other men, local crook Billy McCulkin, and so-called Clockwork Orange gang member Tommy Hamilton.

The video was mesmerising, and as chilling as the day it was recorded.

WATT: Jim Finch, you have always claimed that you were home in bed in the early hours of the 8th of March, 1973, when a ­Fortitude Valley nightclub, the Whiskey Au Go Go, was firebombed.

Gold Coast Titans chairman Dennis Watt leaves the Coroner's court in Brisbane. Picture: Dan Peled

In October that year, a judge and jury found you guilty of the crime. You swore police set you up. The relatives of the victims of the fire have had the anguish of never really knowing what happened. You have asked me to England to tell me the real story behind the Whiskey Au Go Go. For those grieving relatives, your supporters, the police involved and the people of Queensland, tell me Jim, were you really home in bed on that dreadful night?

FINCH: No, Dennis.

WATT: Were you involved in the firebombing of the Whiskey Au Go Go?

FINCH: I was.

WATT: What part did you play, Jim?

FINCH: I was the bloke that put the two drums in the ­entrance.

WATT: And how many people were involved.

FINCH: There was a driver and the bloke who lit the match … three …

WATT: Did your actions lead to the death of the 15 victims?

FINCH: That’s correct.

Later, Finch gave clear details about the actual attack.

FINCH: The car doors were almost opened … as the car stopped we jumped out … I went out the back, I lifted up the (bonnet), Hamilton reached in … and took off the tops that were loose, I grabbed the two drums and went straight into the Whiskey Au Go Go. Hamilton was straight behind me. I dropped the drums, dropped them on their side, and before I was out Hamilton had thrown the match and we run straight back into the car.

WATT: Was there any ­explosion when you were there?

FINCH: No. None at all.

WATT: But you saw the ­petrol …

FINCH: I saw it start to light.

Finch expressed contrition to Watt.

The Whiskey Au Go Go after the 1973 firebombing.

FINCH: When I went in that place there was no intent in my heart to harm any person … I just couldn’t believe it, Dennis, you know, I was just completely stunned and numb.

WATT: And how do you feel now, 15 years later?

FINCH: I never got over it that my action, with these other people, led to the deaths of these 15 people because I went in there with no intent in my heart to hurt ­anybody. I was just the bloke who was used along the line. Often when I walk down the street I count the number 15, I look at people and I go one, two, up to 15, and I think to myself, 15 years, a year for every one of those people that died … it’s just not right that anyone who’s involved in killing 15 people and get off doing a year for each one … the thing is there’s mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and kids who all suffered through this act that I was ­involved in.

Days later, Finch agreed to a “satellite” interview with then A Current Affair host Jana Wendt. A portion was also played in court.

Finch, originally charged and convicted of just one murder count with the Whiskey, backflipped again, this time denying he was involved after Wendt ­implied he could be extradited back to Australia to face charges on the murders of the other 14 ­victims.

WENDT: Why did you agree to take part in this (the interview)?

FINCH: I don’t know what’s happening here. Why am I sitting here? I never confessed. I haven’t been very well …

The inquest is continuing.