The West Ham station attack was a bombing and shooting attack at

West Ham station West Ham is a London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail intermodal interchange station in West Ham, London, United Kingdom. The station is served by London Underground's District, Hammersmith & City and Jubilee lines, ...

in east

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 15 March 1976. A bomb on a

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

train exploded prematurely in the front carriage of the train, injuring seven passengers. The bomb detonated prior to reaching the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, where it was thought the intended target was

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

at rush hour. Adrian Vincent Donnelly, a

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

(IRA) member, then shot

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

engineer Peter Chalk in the chest, and killed train driver Julius Stephen, who had attempted to catch him. Donelly exited the station to the street and threatened people with his

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

before PC Raymond Kiff caught up with him. Shouting "You

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

bastards!", Donelly shot himself in the chest, but he survived and was apprehended by Kiff.

Perpetrator

Adrian Donelly, 36 at the time, was originally from

Castlefin Castlefin (), sometimes spelt Castlefinn, is a market town and townland in the Finn Valley of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. It is located between Ballybofey and Lifford in East Donegal and, , t ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

but lived in London from 1971. He was part of an

active service unit An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units. T ...

involved in planting 16 bombs. In 1977 at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, he was convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

and

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

. He was sentenced to

life imprisonment 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 for ...

by Mr Justice Croom-Johnson with a minimum of 30 years. He was released after 21 years in August 1998 as one of the earliest beneficiaries 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 ...

's prisoner release scheme. He died on 25 August 2019.

Aftermath

Eleven days prior, an IRA bomb had exploded in a train at

Cannon Street station Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is on ...

. The day after the West Ham attack, a bomb on a train at

Wood Green tube station Wood Green is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly line. The station is between Turnpike Lane and Bounds Green stations and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is located at junction of High Road, Wood Green and Lordship Lane. It serves Wo ...

exploded, injuring a man. On 17 March, a bomb was discovered in a train at

Neasden Depot Neasden Depot is a London Underground depot located in Neasden in the London Borough of Brent, between Neasden and Wembley Park stations on the Metropolitan line. It is the largest depot on the London Underground, and is currently responsible f ...

. After these events, London Transport launched a security operation and assigned 1,000 plainclothed policemen on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

system. An appeal to raise money was launched for the family of the driver of the train, Julius Stephen, who left behind a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

and a family. £17,000 had been raised by August 1976.

References

1976 in London 1976 murders in the United Kingdom 1970s crimes in London Attacks on buildings and structures in London Attacks on railway stations in Europe Explosions in 1976 History of the London Borough of Newham March 1976 crimes March 1976 events in Europe Murder in London Provisional IRA bombings in London Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1976 Terrorist incidents on railway systems in the United Kingdom Train bombings in Europe Station attack Building bombings in London {{UK-history-stub

Perpetrator

Aftermath

See also

References