The 2001 BBC bombing was a terrorist attack on the BBC's main news centre within BBC Television Centre, on Wood Lane in the White City area of West London.
| 4 March 2001 BBC bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Dissident Irish Republican campaign | |
| Location | White City, London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′41″N 0°13′29″W / 51.5113°N 0.2248°W |
| Date | 4 March 2001 12:30 am – (GMT) |
| Target | BBC Television Centre |
Attack type | Car bomb |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrators | Noel Maguire, Robert Hulme, Aiden Hulme, James McCormack and John Hannan |
History
editAt 12:27 am (0027 UTC) on 4 March 2001, the Real IRA, a dissident Irish republican group, detonated a car bomb outside the BBC's main news centre within BBC Television Centre, on Wood Lane in the White City area of West London.[1][2][3]
Between ten and twenty pounds (approximately 4.5 to 9 kilograms) of high explosives had been placed in a red taxi, reports by BBC after the bombing reported that it was a black taxi but was later identified as a red taxi. The taxi was purchased on the morning of 3 March in Edmonton, north London, and abandoned yards from the main front door of BBC Television Centre at 11 pm.[4] Police officers were attempting to carry out a controlled explosion on the bomb with a bomb-disposal robot when it went off. Staff had already been evacuated after police received a coded warning that had been given to a London hospital and charity one hour before the explosion. There were no fatalities, though one London Underground worker suffered cuts to his eye caused by glass debris.[5]
BBC cameraman Jon Brotherton caught the moment of the explosion and the resulting damage—which included numerous smashed windows in the front entrance—was seen as day broke.[6]
Conviction
editThe bomb was part of a Real IRA bombing campaign which included the Ealing bombing on 2 August 2001 and an attempted bombing in Birmingham city centre on 3 November 2001.[7] Later in November, three men—Noel Maguire, Robert Hulme, and his brother Aiden Hulme—were arrested in connection with all three bomb attacks. They were convicted at the Old Bailey on 9 April 2003,[8] together with two other men—James McCormack, of County Louth, and John Hannan, of Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, both of whom had already admitted the charge at an earlier hearing.[9] The Hulme brothers were both jailed for 20 years; Maguire, who the judge said played "a major part in the bombing conspiracy", was sentenced to 22 years; McCormack, who the judge said had played the most serious part of the five, also received 22 years; and Hannan, who was 17 at the time of the incidents, was given 16 years' detention.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Bomb blast outside BBC". BBC News Online. 4 March 2001.
- ^ Hoge, Warren (5 March 2001). "BBC in London Bombed; Outlaw I.R.A. Is Blamed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "CNN.com - Real IRA blamed for BBC blast - March 4, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "BBC bomb prompts terror warning". BBC News Online. 5 March 2001.
- ^ "Bomb blast outside BBC". BBC News Online. 4 March 2001.
- ^ "In pictures: BBC bomb blast". BBC News Online. 4 March 2001.
- ^ "Real IRA team convicted of plotting BBC bomb blast". The Independent. London. 9 April 2023. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009.
- ^ "Real IRA team convicted of plotting BBC bomb blast". The Independent. 9 April 2003. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ Deans, Jason (22 January 2003). "Two plead guilty to BBC bombing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Real IRA bombers jailed". BBC News Online. 9 April 2003.