The Road to Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London

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Following precise procedures from deputy assistant commissioner Wilford Gibson they emerged one by one with their hands on their heads. Tributes paid to former MPS commissioner". Police Professional. 13 November 2017 . Retrieved 13 November 2017. Building on the reforms to the Met implemented by his predecessor, Sir Kenneth Newman, Imbert began his own set of reforms called the PLUS program, aiming to improve the corporate image and quality of service of the Met. The programme saw the Met renamed from the "Metropolitan Police Force" to the "Metropolitan Police Service", the name it has retained to this day. [6] In addition, a Statement of Common Purpose and Values was devised.

Communication via a field telephone was established on a first-name basis between O’Connell and Detective Superintendent Peter Imbert, Scotland Yard’s chief negotiator. One reporter who was covering the events for radio was Jon Snow, now a Channel 4 newsreader. “I think we all fell victim to Balcombe Street fever,” he recalled.They were responsible for the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings which left seven people dead, as well as the murder of broadcaster and author Ross McWhirter. Photo: The four Provisional IRA terrorists known as the Balcombe Street Terror Gang, from left: Hugh Doherty, Martin O’Connel, Edward Butler and Harry Duggan, in a line up in London.

Baker, Rob (10 December 2013). " 'Our Nelson Mandelas' – The IRA's Balcombe Street Gang". Flashbak . Retrieved 25 July 2022. The four were found guilty at their Old Bailey trial in 1977 of seven murders, conspiring to cause explosions, and falsely imprisoning John and Sheila Matthews during the siege. O’Connell, Butler and Duggan each received 12 life sentences, and Doherty received 11. Each of the men were later given a whole life tariff, the only IRA prisoners to receive this tariff. [2] [9] During the trial they instructed their lawyers to "draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences" for a bombing in Woolwich and two in Guildford. [11] Despite telling the police that they were responsible, they were never charged with these offences and the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven remained in prison for 15 more years, until it was ruled that their convictions were unsafe. [11] [12] Release [ edit ]

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Born in Kent, Imbert was educated at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone, spent his National Service in the Royal Air Force Police and worked for a short time with Kent County Council, before joining the Metropolitan Police in 1953 at Bow Street Police Station. Photo: Miss Caroline Kennedy leaves the home of Lord and Lady Harlech, where she stayed overnight, following a bomb blast outside her hosts house when one of Britain’s leading cancer research specialists was killed. The gang and their hostages were held in a single room, with no access to running water or a toilet. Although police initially refused requests for food, they did give them water and a chemical toilet. This is done to preserve the anonymity of the people in that area, as some postcodes cover a very small area, sometimes a single building.

The latest controversy to embroil Sir Ian Blair turns, improbably, on the events of one bitterly cold evening 31 years ago. In Steve Moysey's forthcoming book on the Balcombe Street siege, John Purnell, the first policeman to encounter the IRA men, recalls "taking hot soup and standing in shop doorways to try to stay warm". The gunmen later broke off negotiations by throwing the phone out of the flat window and police had to resume talks with a loud hailer. The first sign of weakness was when the terrorists asked to restore the phone link. Mr Justice Cantley described the four as "criminals who call themselves soldiers". He recommended that each serve at least 30 years. The gang used several different methods to deliver and detonate their bombs. The unit's favoured method was using hand-thrown bombs. The unit made and used a series of these grenade-like devices. These were small devices with around 2–5 pounds (1–2kg) of gelignite in them with a short fuse attached. The fuse would be lit and then thrown at its target by one volunteer while another volunteer would keep lookout. This method was used in the Woolwich pub bombing of November 1974 and the Waltons bombing of November 1975.They got their name after taking a couple hostage in Balcombe Street following a London street battle, and surrendering after a six-day siege. The stand-off began when the men stormed the Matthews' flat as they fled from police after a shooting incident in Mayfair.

The census collection is designed so that each group of postcodes should contain at least 100 people (50 in Scotland). Fido, Martin; Keith Skinner (1999). The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0515-0.The police surrounded the building and with a telephone dropped into the flat and loud-hailers from outside continually talked with the Irishmen in first floor flat. For several days the terrorists, however, refused food both for themselves and their hostages. The chief negotiator for the Metropolitan police, Peter Imbert, who would later become the Metropolitan police commissioner, told the gang that they were betraying Wolfe Tone – the father of Irish republicanism – to which Duggan angrily threw the negotiating phone out of the window. It was during the Balcombe Street siege that fingerprints from Ireland confirmed his identity. His father, who said he had not heard from his son for two years before the siege, described him as "a nice quiet boy at home who never gave us any trouble". The pub has a traditional British feel, with wooden interiors and a relaxed atmosphere. They also have a large outdoor seating area, making it a great place to enjoy a drink on a sunny day. The Balcombe Street gang, as they became known after the dramatic siege of a flat in Balcombe Street, London, in December 1975, was part of a specialist IRA unit which sometimes numbered as many as 20. It was described as "the most violent, ruthless and highly-trained unit ever sent to Britain by the Provisional IRA".