Plan to blow up Coles

A man who was stockpiling kilos of potassium nitrate, chlorine and sulphur, driven by a desire for revenge on Bondi Junction’s Coles supermarket, accidentally set his Woollahra unit on fire last Saturday.

Andre Nord, 54, suffering burns, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital under police guard. He was released into police custody that evening, September 27.

A police statement in the Parramatta Bail Court the next day alleged that Mr Nord was on workers’ compensation after suffering facial injuries during an armed robbery at Coles’s New South Head Road branch in Edgecliff in 2005.

He had been living on $340 a week in workers’ compensation benefits and fighting Coles over his entitlements.

Mr Nord apparently became very upset with a ruling of the Workers’ Compensation Commission in June and allegedly began stockpiling chemicals and explosive devices to use against the Coles supermarket in Bondi Junction as payback.

The alleged plan backfired and NSW Fire Brigades were called to the block of flats on Edgecliff Road at about 7am on September 27 after reports a fourth floor apartment was alight.
Fire fighters quickly extinguished the blaze and the unit block and surrounding residential premises were evacuated as a precaution. Road blocks were also installed around the area.

Mr Nord was charged with causing more than $15,000 worth of damage to property and possessing explosives with intent to destroy property.

He did not apply for bail and will appear in court again on October 7.