Walter Finch
A VIOLENT feud within the Costa del Sol’s Irish community is at the heart of a devastating blaze which ripped through a strip of pubs over the weekend.
The inferno took hold of the bars and restaurants in Torremolinos on Sunday morning, quickly spreading to engulf several bars and restaurants as well as a supermarket.
Police reported that the 5am fire on Calle Salvador Allende destroyed seven outdoor terraces, but only one bar was completely gutted from the inside.
The Olive Press can reveal this was The Bailey International – and it was an arson attack aimed at its owner, Craig Phillips.
While he declined to comment, the blaze was the most recent in a series of violent attacks that have rocked the local community, with the retribution even stretching back to Ireland.
Phillips is currently recovering in hospital after two masked thugs cornered him in his bar on Thursday last week and slashed him with knives.
Shocking CCTV footage acquired by this newspaper shows Phillips standing quietly with two customers sitting at the bar just moments before the horror begins.
All of a sudden, a hooded man emerges out of the darkness and leaps over the bar as Phillips backs away.
A second attacker then cuts off his escape, and they corner him against a table.
Terrified patrons reel in fright as the attackers land several vicious blows against Phillip’s back and neck as he was unable to defend himself.
They then scurry off into the night, barging a man believed to be the owner’s 63-year-old father out of their way.
Witnesses have told the Olive Press the attackers did not stop there.
Having sent Phillips to the emergency operating theatre, they came back at the weekend with matches.
“There is always trouble in that bar – there was a big fight there just before the fire,” one local business owner told the Olive Press.
“The police had to come out and break it up.”
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He continued: “How can we run a business when this is constantly going on?
“I 100% blame this bar for the fire.”
The Olive Press understands that on this occasion, units from the local fire brigade came and were able to put the fire out before it could take hold.
But just a few hours later, Baileys and a number of other popular spots were torched beyond repair.
“I just can’t get my head round it,” Brian Ennis, the nearby owner of Champagne Charlie’s added.
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“We had been coming here on holidays from Manchester for 17 years. When the old owner decided to sell up, we took it over.
“We were fulfilling a dream. Now our bar is destroyed. I can’t come to terms with it.”
The owners of McGuire’s, another Irish bar planted directly next to the Bailey’s, wrote on social media that it ‘is a devastating loss for us, and a deeply sad day for our community.’
The alleged reputation of Baileys has long preceded the events of the last few days.
“We all know what kind of people are involved with that bar,” another owner said, asking to remain anonymous.
“I think some men came to scare him. To give him a fright.”
The Olive Press understands the attackers even targeted Phillips’ mother at her home in Cork last year.
The local fire brigade and Gardai were called to a house fire on September 13, it was reported.
But what has been behind all these attacks against Phillips? “It was payback for something Craig did,” a source told us.
Phillips has a chequered past back in Ireland.
He was described as a ‘trusted drugs courier’ for a mafia gang in Cork during a trial that he pleaded guilty to when he was just 18.
When contacted by this newspaper for comment, Phillips told us to ‘f*** off’.
He refused to be drawn further.
Forensic specialists from the Policia Nacional have been conducting an inspection of the wreckage this week.
Officially they say they are investigating suspected arson.
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