UPDATE: A Williamstown hairdresser fears her business was the intended target of a petrol bomb attack overnight on Thursday because of the salon’s past association with a woman who is in court on child pornography charges.
The homemade bomb just missed the salon at 76 Douglas Parade, smashing the glass door of a tattoo parlour at number 78. It did not ignite.
Vanessa Blazevski, 45, of Altona, is the former owner of Muse Hair Gallery at 76 Douglas Parade, where she worked for about 25 years.
On Tuesday of last week, Blazevski pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to four charges, including making child pornography and sexual penetration of a young child. Blazevski’s ex-partner, Adrian Xanthoulakis, 28, of Maddingley, pleaded guilty to six charges including child pornography, committing an indecent act in the presence of a child and inciting another to commit an offence.
Xanthoulakis, a registered sex offender, allegedly posted images taken by Blazevski on mobile messaging service Kik.
Blazevski sold the hairdressing salon in February.
New owner Donna Cao said as soon as she became aware of the charges against Blazevski, she moved to change the name of her business to Allurement Pampering.
“We were totally shocked,” she said. “I was actually in the process of changing the name of the business and then suddenly when it [news of the charges] came out I thought, OK, that’s it, I have got to change the business name now.
“I took over the salon in February and she hasn’t been working here since then.”
Ms Cao said when she arrived at work on Friday morning she immediately thought her shop had been attacked.
“It’s not very good for us at the moment. The door and the glass is actually right next door to us. There’s a bit of wall in between.”’
The phone at Ink Life Tattoo Studio, which had its door shattered but not broken, has not been answered since the incident.
Police are also investigating whether Thursday’s attack is linked to fires at two tattoo parlours at Lilydale and Seville in the Yarra Ranges on May 13.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Belinda Batty said Taskforce Echo and regional detectives are investigating a series of fires in the past fortnight at tattoo parlours with known links to outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs).
“We are aware of escalating tensions between the Rebels and Comancheros/Finks OMCGs and are actively monitoring all three groups,” she said.
“We have issued a reminder to our members to exercise caution when coming into contact with OMCG members during the course of their duties.
“As the investigations are active and ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Blazevski and Xanthoulakis are due to appear in the County Court in August.
