Golf club attack sparks security push from Perth CBD café owners

A Perth café owner is demanding better security and a meeting with the Lord Mayor after a regular customer was allegedly attacked with a golf club while sitting in his venue.

Anthony Godin, 56, was struck on the head while having a coffee at OMG Café in the Perth CBD on his birthday. Witnesses chased the alleged attacker up Pier Street as Godin was left bleeding and in shock.

“Put the hand on the back of my head and it came away in blood,” Godin told 9News.

He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital, where he needed seven stitches and a head scan. Doctors told him the blow could have been fatal.

“I keep thinking if that was someone else, an inch to the left, inch to the right, what they said, I’d be dead,” he said.

A 33-year-old man has been charged with unlawful wounding over the incident.

OMG Café owner Al Absawi said the attack had left him shaken, and that Godin was a loyal patron of the business.

“He’s been coming here for five years, comes in, enjoys his coffee with a group of people and sadly this is what happened,” Absawi said.

Security boost required

Operators along Pier Street are calling for an urgent security boost to protect staff and customers, with the incident adding to concerns about safety for hospitality venues in the CBD.

In a statement, Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds said: “We continue to invest in CCTV, enhanced lighting and our nightly City Watch patrols.” 

Reynolds said he would meet the café owner to hear his concerns.

Jonathan Jackson, 26th October 2026