Today is the 20th anniversary of the Brixton Market nail bombing, which took place on 17th April 1999. The bomb went off at 5.25pm, and injured 48 people.
Over three successive weekends between 17th and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated respectively in Brixton, south London; Brick Lane in the East End; and in The Admiral Duncan pub in Soho in the West End. Each bomb contained up to 1,500 four-inch nails, in holdalls that were left in public spaces. The bombs killed three people, including a pregnant woman, and injured 140 people, four of whom lost limbs.
Wikipedia has this coverage of the horrific event:
Brixton Market bomb
The first bombing, on Saturday, 17 April 1999, was in Electric Avenue, Brixton; an area of south London with a large black population. The bomb was made using explosives from fireworks, taped inside a sports bag, primed and left at Brixton Market. The Brixton Market traders became suspicious, and one of them, Gary Shilling, moved the bag to a less crowded area after seeing perpetrator Copeland acting suspiciously.
Two further moves of the bomb occurred by unconvinced traders, including the bomb being removed from the bag, which is when it ended up by the Iceland supermarket. Concerned traders called the police, who arrived at the scene just as the bomb detonated at 5:25 pm.
Forty-eight people were injured, many of them seriously because of the four-inch nails that were packed around the bomb. The explosion was strong, sending nails in all directions, blowing windows and blasting a parked car across the street.
Met Police statement:
Today (Wednesday, 17 April) marks the 20th anniversary of the Brixton Market nail bombing. It was the first of three nail bomb attacks committed over a two-week period – a homemade device was detonated in Brick Lane in east London on 24 April 1999, and another device exploded in the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of Soho in central London on 30 April 1999.
Three people were killed in the Admiral Duncan bombing; dozens more were seriously injured in the three attacks.
The perpetrator was sentenced to six terms of life imprisonment in June 2000 after being found guilty of three counts of murder and for planting the homemade explosive devices, following an investigation by what was then the Met’s Anti-Terrorist Branch.
Over the next two weeks, there will be a series of community events where the victims of these attacks will be commemorated.
Commander Mark McEwan said: “Two decades have passed since these abhorrent attacks which left an indelible mark on London. Our thoughts are with everyone affected – those who lost their lives, their family and loved ones, and all of the people who survived the attacks and continue to live with the physical and psychological trauma of what happened.
“London’s black, Asian and gay communities were the target of these bombs, but they were an affront to London as a whole, and to the diversity and unity which characterises this great city.
“In the past two decades, Londoners have shown time and time again that they wholeheartedly reject everything that attacks of this nature are intended to do – instil fear and create prejudice and conflict to divide communities.
“The anniversary of these atrocities serve as a reminder that we can never be complacent in dealing with extremism and people who harbour radical views based on racial, religious and other forms of prejudice.
“The Met’s priority is to keep the public safe, and we do not tolerate any criminality motivated by hate. We routinely engage with religious and minority communities and leaders, and we work closely with partners to address local community concerns and needs, and do what we can to protect them from hate crime.
“The police is working round the clock to keep the Capital safe from terrorism, from patrolling key areas to delivering training and advice to businesses through our ground-breaking e-learning package, ‘ACT Awareness’. We cannot do this alone however, so I urge the public to help by reporting anyone or anything that looks out of place or suspicious to a member of staff, security or police.”
Anyone with concerns can also report anything suspicious confidentially at www.gov.uk/ACT or by calling 0800 789 321. In an emergency always call 999. More information on what to look out for and how to contact police can be found at www.gov.uk/ACT.