Injured worker's 'plot to blow up Coles'

"A disgruntled Coles worker who planned to destroy a Sydney supermarket after stockpiling chemicals and explosive devices told police that he did not intend to hurt anyone, a court has heard. . . . The court was told the final straw came after a disappointing outcome at the Workers' Compensation Commission in June, prompting a "violent outburst", police said."

Harriet Alexander
Sydney Morning Herald

A disgruntled Coles worker who planned to destroy a Sydney supermarket after stockpiling chemicals and explosive devices told police that he did not intend to hurt anyone, a court has heard.

Police said in a statement tendered to Parramatta Bail Court yesterday that Andre Nord suffered facial injuries during an armed robbery at Coles's New South Head Road branch in Edgecliff in 2005, and had been unable to work since then.

He was living on $340 a week he received in workers' compensation benefits while remaining on the Coles payroll and was wrestling with the company over his entitlements.

Nord, 54, had allegedly been stockpiling chemicals and explosive devices since June.

His stockpile included 12 kilograms of potassium nitrate, six or seven kilograms of chlorine, two kilograms of sulphur, a barbecue gas canister and brick-cleaning solution, police said.

If his alleged plot had come to fruition, the stockpile would have been used to incinerate the Coles supermarket in Bondi Junction in a dramatic payback against his employer.

Police told the court yesterday that the accused had insisted he had never had any intention to hurt any person other than himself.

Police said that Nord felt "aggrieved by Coles for not having heeded his concerns about security within the store".

Police also alleged that Nord believed the "company does not tend to the welfare of its employees adequately".

The court was told the final straw came after a disappointing outcome at the Workers' Compensation Commission in June, prompting a "violent outburst", police said.

Nord was taken to hospital after a fire in his Woollahra apartment. Firefighters alerted police after discovering chemicals and explosive devices inside the premises.

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

He has no family in Australia and his de facto is overseas.

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