Kenneth Robert Howorth (28 September 1932 – 26 October 1981) was a British army officer and an explosives officer with London's

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

who was killed whilst attempting to defuse a bomb planted by the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

. Howorth served for twenty-three years with the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

(RAOC) with postings to Austria, Japan,

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

in Libya,

Stonecutters Island Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Following land reclamation, it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula. Fauna The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested c ...

in Hong Kong and various United Kingdom bases. He reached the rank of

Warrant Officer Class 1 Warrant may refer to: * Warrant (law), a form of specific authorization ** Arrest warrant, authorizing the arrest and detention of an individual ** Search warrant, a court order issued that authorizes law enforcement to conduct a search for eviden ...

(Conductor) before leaving to join the

as a civilian explosives officer in 1973. On 26 October 1981, police received warnings that bombs on a busy shopping street in

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

would explode within thirty minutes. A booby-trapped

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

(IED), planted by the IRA, was discovered in the basement toilet of a Wimpy restaurant on Oxford Street. While attempting to defuse the bomb, Howorth was killed instantly when it detonated. Howorth was survived by his wife Ann (who later died on 25 November 2003), his son Steven, and his daughter Susan. In 1983, he was posthumously awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

for gallantry. In 1985, IRA

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

Paul Kavanagh and Thomas Quigley, both from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, were convicted of Howorth’s murder, along with other attacks, including the

Chelsea Barracks Chelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, between the districts of Belgravia, Chelsea and Pimlico on Chelsea Bridge Road. The barracks closed in the late 2000s, and the site is currently being redeve ...

nail bomb in September 1981, and each was given five

life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

with a minimum tariff of thirty-five years. However, in March 1999, the Northern Ireland Sentence Review Commission ordered the two men’s release under the terms of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

, a decision immediately challenged at

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

by the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

. Mr Justice Girvan speedily rejected the challenge, finding that the wisdom or fairness of the Northern Ireland Sentencing Act 1998, which established the early release scheme, was not a matter for the court and commenting "History will be the ultimate judge". The men were released on 23 March 1999."IRA men freed after Straw’s court move fails"
'' The Herald'' (Glasgow), 24 March 1999

References

*http://www.historybytheyard.co.uk/gallantry.htm 1932 births 1981 deaths 1980s murders in London People from Littleborough, Greater Manchester Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers Metropolitan Police officers People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army Recipients of the George Medal Deaths by improvised explosive device in England English terrorism victims Terrorism deaths in England Male murder victims Metropolitan Police officers killed in the line of duty People murdered in Westminster 1981 murders in the United Kingdom Military personnel from Lancashire {{UK-army-bio-stub

See also

References