A popular live music venue in Brisbane has been forced to keep its doors closed for an extended period following a firebombing attack late last year.
Police reported the incident occurred in the early hours of December 26th last, when a man entered a tobacconist below the Tomcat venue in Fortitude Valley.
“The 34-year-old man has then placed a suspicious item within the store and when confronted by the owner, threatened him with what appeared to be a weapon before a physical altercation occurred resulting in the owner being assaulted and fleeing to safety,” police said in a statement.
“The man then removed an item from a stolen Volkswagen parked outside the store before throwing it into the premises, resulting in a fire causing extensive damage to the business.”
At the time, organisers of Tomcat confirmed that the attack resulted in “a bit of water damage to the floor boards, but a whole heap of smoke damage” and would not be able to reopen until January 1st.
However, in a new statement posted online over the weekend, after police confirmed that a man has been charged for the attack, the venue confirmed that it will be “closed through till April due to the extent of the damage, with a significant amount of repair work that will need to be done”.
The Wickham Street venue is a favourite of the Fortitude Valley live music scene. As well as being one of the staples of the annual BIGSOUND festival, it has hosted shows from a number of notable bands, including Dear Seattle, Deez Nuts, Kingswood, Sierra Skies, FANGZ and Eagle Eye Jones.
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Police confirmed that the man was been charged with two counts of arson, one count each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing, entering premises with intent to commit indictable offence, assaults occasioning bodily harm, receiving tainted property, possessing suspected stolen property, possess explosives (ammunition) and contravening order about device information.
After appearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court late last month, the man’s bail was denied and the matter adjourned to February 10th.
