1993 Harrods bombing

IRA attack in London, England

This article is about the 1993 bombing. For the 1983 bombing, see Harrods bombing.

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1993 Harrods bombing

Part of the Troubles

Brompton Road, looking north from Harrods in 1993

Location| Knightsbridge, London, United Kingdom
Date| 28 January 1993
09:40 (UTC)
Target| Harrods

Attack type

| Bomb
Deaths| 0
Injured| 4
Perpetrator| Provisional Irish Republican Army

* v
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The Troubles
in Britain | Continental Europe

1970 – 1981

* Aldershot bombing
* Old Bailey bombing
* King's Cross & Euston bombings
* Westminster bombing
* M62 coach bombing
* Parliament bombing
* Tower of London bombing
* Guildford pub bombings
* Woolwich pub bombing
* Birmingham pub bombings
* Pillar box bombings
* Talbot Arms bombing
* Bristol bombing
* Carlton Tower and Portman Hotel shootings
* Caterham bombing
* Hilton bombing
* Piccadilly bombing
* Walton's bombing
* Biddy Mulligan's bombing
* Balcombe St siege
* West Ham attack
* Olympia bombing
* Airey Neave killing
* Glasgow pub bombings
* Brussels bombing
* Chelsea Barracks bombing

* * *

1982 – 1998

* Hyde & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Operation Flavius
* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing

Deal barracks bombing
* Wembley bombing
* Roermond killings
* Lichfield shooting

Carlton bombing
* London Stock Exchange bombing
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Paddington & Victoria bombings
* London Bridge bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Stoke Newington bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Warrington bombings
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Rd bombings
* Heathrow mortar attacks
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Osnabrück attack

* * *

See also: The Troubles in Ireland and Assassinations during the Troubles

The 1993 Harrods bombing occurred on 28 January 1993 when a bomb exploded near the Harrods department store in London, England.

## Background[edit]

The Provisional IRA began intensifying its bombings in London in 1992. A month before the Harrods bomb, on 10 December 1992 the IRA exploded two bombs in litter bins outside the Wood Green Shopping City centre injuring four police officers and seven civilians.[1] A week later on 17 December two more IRA bombs exploded in London outside shops injuring four people at Oxford Street and Cavendish Square.[2]

## Bombing[edit]

On 28 January 1993 a bomb exploded near the Harrods department store in London, England. At 9:14, two telephoned warnings were issued, saying that two bombs had been planted: one outside and one inside Harrods.[3] The store was due to open at 10:00.[3] Police cordoned off the area and began a search. However, some bystanders ignored the police cordon.[3] At about 9:40, a package containing 1 lb (450 g) of Semtex exploded in a litter bin at the front of the store.[3] It injured four people and damaged the shopfront.[3][4] The cost of damage and lost sales was estimated at £1 million.[5] Harrods was previously targeted by the IRA before, first two firebombs in August 1973 caused minor damage,[6] in 1974 the IRA's active service unit known as the Balcombe Street Gang exploded another firebomb gutting a clothes shop inside the store and injuring one member of staff and in 1983 a car bomb killed six (3 civilians and 3 police) and injured 90 people,the 1993 bomb was much smaller than the 1983 one.

## Perpetrators[edit]

Those responsible were English Irish nationalist activists associated with the Provisional IRA: Jan Taylor, a 51-year-old former corporal who had served in the British Army Royal Signals Corps, and Patrick Hayes, a 41-year-old computer programmer of Irish descent, with a degree in business studies from Polytechnic of Central London and a member of Red Action.[4][5]

In March 1993, police captured them at Hayes' home in Stoke Newington, London.[7] They each received prison sentences of 30 years for the January Harrods bombing and for a second attack on a train a month later which caused extensive damage but no casualties. Hayes was also convicted of conspiracy to cause three additional explosions in 1992. Neither man had any apparent links to Ireland beyond their "unswerving support for the IRA".[8] Both were released in 1999 under the Good Friday Agreement.[citation needed]

## See also[edit]

* Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1992–1999)
* Harrods bombing (1983)
* Oxford Street bombing (1974)
* Stoke Newington Road lorry bomb (1992)
* 1993 Camden Town bombing
* 1993 Bishopsgate bombing

## References[edit]

1. ^ Bennett, Will (11 December 1992). "Police and shoppers injured in bomb blasts". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
2. ^ Schmidt, William E (17 December 1992). "4 Hurt as 2 I.R.A. Bombs Go Off on Busy London Shopping Street". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
3. ^ a b c d e Bennett, Will (29 January 1993). "Four hurt by IRA bomb outside Harrods – UK, News". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
4. ^ a b Geraghty, Tony (2000). The Irish War: the hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence. JHUPress. p. 163. ISBN 0-8018-6456-9.
5. ^ a b Seaton, Matt (29 January 1995). "Charge of the New Red Brigade". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
6. ^ Shuster, Alvin (25 August 1973). "2 IN LONDON HURT BY A LETTER BOMB;High Stock Exchange Aide Injured—Scotland Yard Officially Blames I.R.A." The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
7. ^ Mickolus, Edward (1997). Terrorism, 1992–1995: a chronology of events and a selectively annotated bibliography. Greenwood Press. p. 282\. ISBN 0-313-30468-8.
8. ^ Ward, Stephen (13 May 1994). "'Proud' IRA bombers jailed for 30 years: Police remain mystified why two Englishmen, who had no apparent connections with Ireland, became terrorists". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

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Provisional Irish Republican Army

General|

* Anti-Treaty IRA
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Organisation|

* Chief of Staff
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Actions|

| 1970–1979|

* Battle of St Matthew's
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* 1970 Crossmaglen bombing
* Scottish soldiers' killings
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* 1973 Westminster bombing
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* Brussels bombing
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|

1980–1989|

* Dunmurry train bombing
* Lough Foyle attacks
* Glasdrumman ambush
* 1981 Bessbrook attack
* Chelsea Barracks bombing
* Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Royal Artillery Barracks bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Ballygawley land mine attack
* Newry mortar attack
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* Enniskillen mortar attack
* RUC Birches barracks attack
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Loughgall ambush
* Operation Flavius
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* Lisburn bombing
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* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing
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* Ballygawley bus bombing
* Jonesborough ambush
* Clive Barracks bombing
* Deal barracks bombing
* Mayobridge attack
* Derryard attack

1990–1991|

* Derrygorry Gazelle downing
* South Armagh sniper
* Downpatrick roadside bomb
* Operation Conservation
* Carlton Club bombing
* 1990 Eltham bombing
* 1990 Wembley bombing
* Honourable Artillery Company bombing
* Lichfield gun attack
* RFA Fort Victoria bombing
* Proxy bombings
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Paddington & Victoria station bombings
* Mullacreevie ambush
* Glenanne barracks bombing
* Coagh ambush
* Musgrave Park Hospital bombing
* Crumlin Road Prison bombing

1992–1997|

* Teebane bombing
* Clonoe ambush
* London Bridge bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Cloghoge attack
* Coalisland riots
* Forensic Science Laboratory bombing
* Stoke Newington Road bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Night of the Long Knives
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Warrington bombings
* Cullaville occupation
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Road bombings
* Battle of Newry Road
* Shankill Road bombing
* 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
* Heathrow attacks
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Drumcree conflict
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bus bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Hammersmith Bridge bombing
* Osnabrück mortar attack
* Thiepval barracks bombing
* Coalisland attack
* 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)|

* Paddy Agnew
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* Daniel McCann
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* Roy Walsh
* Séanna Walsh

Espionage and
Supergrasses|

* Eamon Collins
* Denis Donaldson
* Joseph Fenton
* Kevin Fulton
* Raymond Gilmour
* Martin McGartland
* Sean O'Callaghan
* Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates|

* Cumann na mBan
* Fianna Éireann
* South Armagh Republican Action Force
* Direct Action Against Drugs
* NORAID
* Clan na Gael
* Troops Out Movement

Derivatives|

* Continuity Irish Republican Army
* Real Irish Republican Army

Prominent
killings|

* Jeffery Stanford Agate
* Johnathan Ball
* Anthony Berry
* Robert Bradford
* Joe Bratty
* Matthew Burns
* Martin Cahill
* Eamon Collins
* Raymond Elder
* Gerard Evans
* Christopher Ewart-Biggs
* Joseph Fenton
* Billy Fox
* Maurice Gibson
* Ian Gow
* Heidi Hazell
* Donald Kaberry
* Andrew Kearney
* Baroness Brabourne
* William "Frenchie" Marchant
* Martin McBirney
* Jerry McCabe
* Robert McConnell
* Jean McConville
* Columba McVeigh
* Ross McWhirter
* Stephen Melrose
* Lord Mountbatten
* Lenny Murphy
* Robert Nairac
* Thomas Oliver
* Tim Parry
* Paul Quinn
* Robert Seymour
* Robert McCartney (allegedly)
* Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
* Ray Smallwoods
* Sammy Smyth
* Nick Spanos
* James Stronge
* Norman Stronge
* Richard Sykes
* Stephen Tibble
* Sammy Ward
* Michael Willetts

51°29′59″N 00°09′49″W﻿ / ﻿51.49972°N 0.16361°W﻿ / 51.49972; -0.16361
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