A dangerous situation in an east-Brisbane pub has been fended off courtesy of bumbling bandits and a gaming patron with a big stool.
Around 11:30 on Monday night (27 November) two masked men entered Coles’ Lord Stanley Hotel on Stanley St, one carrying a rifle the other a machete and a black cloth bag.
The first man jumped over the bar, while the second, with the knife, went into an adjacent room and ushered out three men, forcing them to lie on the floor near the bar.
As the second bandit turned his back, a man appears out of another room wielding a tall, heavy gaming stool, which he uses to club the would-be robber in the head, and again when on the floor.
The first man reappears and seems to fire the rifle at stool-man, who falls and scrambles behind the bar, only to re-emerge moments later and throw something at the armed bandit.
The second bandit can be seen getting up and falling over twice, obviously dazed. He looks to defend himself with a bar stool, before clutching his head and rushing out, falling through the doors.
In the melee, the second man dropped his bag, but the armed man is thought to have gotten away with a small amount of cash.
Thankfully, no staff or patrons were injured in the incident, although the unlikely hero could very easily have been shot if the man had been legitimately armed and serious.
Video: Queensland Police