Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

1999 London Nail Bombings

The 1999 London nail bombingswere a series of bomb explosions in London, England, United Kingdom.Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemadenail bombs were detonated respectively in Brixton in South London; atBrick Lane, Spitalfields, in the East End; and at The Admiral Duncanpub in Soho in the West End. Each bomb contained up to 1,500four-inch nails, in holdalls that were left in public spaces. Thebombs killed three people, including a pregnant woman, and injured140 people, four of whom lost limbs.

On 2 May 1999, the Metropolitan PoliceAnti-Terrorist Branch charged 22-year-old David Copeland with murder.Copeland, who became known as the "London nail bomber",was a Neo-Nazi militant and a former member of two far-rightpolitical groups, the British National Party and then the NationalSocialist Movement. The bombings were aimed at London's Black,Bengali and LGBT communities. Copeland was convicted of murder in2000 and given six life sentences.

Overview

Brixton Market bomb

The first bombing, on Saturday, 17April 1999, was in Electric Avenue, Brixton, an area of south Londonwith a large black population. The bomb was made using explosivesfrom fireworks, taped inside a sports bag, primed and left at BrixtonMarket. The Brixton Market traders became suspicious, and one ofthem, Gary Shilling, moved the bag to a less crowded area afterseeing perpetrator Copeland acting suspiciously. Two further moves ofthe bomb occurred by unconvinced traders, including the bomb beingremoved from the bag, which is when it ended up next to the Icelandsupermarket. Concerned traders called the police, who arrived at thescene just as the bomb detonated at 5:25 pm. Forty-eight people wereinjured, many of them seriously because of the four-inch nails thatwere packed around the bomb. The explosion was strong, sending nailsin all directions, blowing windows and blasting a parked car acrossthe street.

Brick Lane bomb

The second bomb, on the followingSaturday, 24 April, was aimed at Brick Lane in the East End ofLondon, which has a large Bangladeshi community. There is a streetmarket on Sundays, but perpetrator Copeland mistakenly tried to plantthe bomb on Saturday when the street was less busy. Unwilling tochange the timer on the bomb, he instead left it in a black Reebokbag on Hanbury Street. There it was picked up by a man who brought itto the police station on Brick Lane, which was shut. The man hadplaced it in the boot of his Ford Sierra car which was parked outsidenumber 42 Brick Lane, where it exploded. Thirteen people wereinjured, and surrounding buildings and cars were severely damaged. Atthe time, Muslims were gathering outside the East London Mosque forprayers.

Admiral Duncan bomb

The third and final bomb was plantedand detonated on the evening of Friday, 30 April at The AdmiralDuncan pub on Old Compton Street in Soho, the heart of London's gaycommunity. At the time the pub and the street outside were crowdedbecause the evening was the start of a bank holiday weekend. Theunattended sports bag containing the bomb, which was taped inside,was noticed by patrons of the Admiral Duncan; however, the bombexploded at 6:37 pm just as the bag was being investigated by the pubmanager, Mark Taylor. Three people were killed and a total ofseventy-nine were injured, many of them seriously. Four of thesurvivors had to have limbs amputated.