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Tuesday 30 April 2019

The Admiral Duncan bombing - 20 years on

A sad coincidence but on my previous peregrination which took in the southern edge of Soho I also passed the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street just down the road from the plaque that marked the great Dangeroo Flood. Twenty years ago today 3 people, Andrea Dykes, Nick Moore and John Light were killed and 78 were wounded by the third in a series of nail bombs left by a right-wing extremist. The pub was crowded on the start of the May bank holiday and this accounts for the relatively high number injured. As this was the third in the series there was a considerable public information campaign in place. There was even a poster in the toilet warning of the possibility of an attack. The bomb exploded at 6:37 pm when the bag that contained it was being investigated by the pub manager.The previous two bombs left in Brixton Market and Brick lane targeted the black and asian communities respectively. These, fortunately resulted in no fatalities although 48 and 13 people were wounded after the bomber was noticed in Brixton, where his bomb was moved by a smallholder to a less crowded area and the police were called. In the case of the Brick Lane bomb when the bomber first set the bomb for Saturday rather than Sunday when a street market takes place and after the bomb was placed in a car boot in an attempt to deliver the bomb to a local police station. The Brixton attack is marked by a plaque was I have not yet seen. The Admiral Duncan has a small plaque placed by Queer Heritage, who place plaques marking places in the struggle for LGBTQ rights in 2017. Andrea Dykes, Nick Moore and John Light are also commemorated in the churchyard of St. Anne;s in Wardour Street.

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