On the 17th April 1999 the first of three nail bombs planted by David Copeland exploded in Brixton Market, luckily noone was killed but many people were injured. We have set up this archive to record what happened since.
17th April 2017 – 18th Anniversary of the Brixton Nail Bomb
Kevin, the Mayor of Lambeth and Carol gather at the side of the Iceland Store.
17th April 2016 – 17th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/874730495988590/
On Sunday 17th April 2016 the annual act of remembrance to mark the 17th anniversary of the Brixton Nail Bomb took place at the side of the Iceland Store in Brixton.
Mark, Matt and Brigitte handed out over 250 of the new London Hate Crime Reporting Cards and chatted to passers-by, including Oswald – who was the guy who had stumbled upon the sports bag containing the nail bomb when it was left at the bus stop nearby by David Copeland. He moved it round the corner, placing it on a bit of street furniture.
This year cages from the Iceland store blocked the site underneath the Brixton plaque which marks the spot where the bomb exploded. There was no representation from Lambeth Council or Lambeth Police. Photos taken by Brigitte Boldly.
17th April 2015 – 16th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2014 – 15th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
11th April 2014 – The Bulletin, Lambeth Council’s internal weekly staff newsletter included notice of the 15th anniversary of the Brixton Bomb attack. Arrangements have been made for the annual gathering to take place at the side of the Iceland store.
11th September 2013, Mark Healey joined Lambeth Council as the new Hate Crime Coordinator with the remit for tackling hate crime in the borough and facilitating the anniversary arrangements for the anniversary of the Brixton Bomb.
17th April 2013 – 14th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- Brixton Blog (16 April 2013) – Gathering marks 14 years since Brixton nail bomb
17th April 2012 – 13th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- South London Press (Wed 25 April 2012) – Flower theft shock for nail bomb victim’s mum. Article about theft of flowers left at scene of Brixton Bomb.
- Brixton Blog (Tue 17 April 2012) – Ceremony to mark anniversary of Brixton nailbomb.
17th April 2011 – 12th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- BBC NEWS London (28 June 2011) – Nail bomber David Copeland loses sentence appeal
17th April 2010 – 11th anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- Notes from the Borderland (5 August 2010) – The Copeland Scandal summarised and updated
17th April 2009 – 10th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- Independent (12 April 2009) – London nail bombs: The two weeks that shattered the capital
17th April 2008 – 9th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2007 – 8th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- Real Crime Series (ITV 8 May 2007) – Nailing the Nail Bomber (Youtube Video)
- The Telegraph (02 March 2007) – Soho nail bomber to serve at least 50 years
17th April 2006 – 7th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- ligali (17 April 2006) – We remember…Brixton Bombing
17th April 2005 – 6th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2004 – 5th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2003 – 4th Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2002 – 3rd Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
17th April 2001 – 2nd Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- BBC (30 June 2000) – Nail bomber guilty of murder
- BBC (19June 2000) – Nail bomber fooled by love letter
- BBC (15 June 2000) – Nail bomber followed Nazism
- BBC (14 June 2000) – Bomber had abnormality of the mind
- BBC (8 June 2000) – Nail bomber set out to terrorise
- BBC (7 June 2000) – Survivors relive bomb blast
- BBC (6 June 2000) – Trader thought nail bomb was joke
- BBC (6 June 2000) – Nail Bomber It was my destiny
- BBC (6 June 2000) – Nail Bomb trial dominates front pages
- BBC (5 June 2000) – Net used to build nail bombs
- BBC (5 June 2000) – Nail Bomber Trial starts
Saturday 1st May 2000 Lambeth Unison backed by the Anti-Nazi League, the National Assembly Against Racism, the National Black Alliance, and the Movement for Justice organised a protest march joined by members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities and organisations including Outrage, Stonewall and the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard.
See Outrage website for photos.
The march left Brixton at 1.20pm, paused outside St Thomas’s Hospital at 2.40pm, halted at Downing St at 2.55pm, paused briefly in Trafalgar Square before continuing to Old Compton St then returning to Trafalgar Square.
17th April 2000 – 1st Anniversary of the Brixton Bomb
- Los Angeles Times (25 April 1999) – Nail Bomb Rips through 2nd Ethnic District in London
- BBC NEWS (Sat 24 April 1999) – Life goes on at bombed market.
- BBC NEWS (Sat 24 April 1999) – UK A week of Terror.
17th April 1999
- World Socialist Website (4 May 1999) – London Nail bomber arrested – what shapes the psychology of hate?
- CBCnews (18 April 1999) Brixton Bomber will be caught – police
- Guardian (Sun 18 April 1999) – Nail bomb injures 48 in Brixton blast (Tony Thompson, Mark Honingsbaum and Yvonne Ridley)
Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, said the bombing was an ‘outrageous and mindless act. Our sympathies go out to those injured and their families.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alan Beith said: ‘It is an act of supreme wickedness to plant a bomb in a busy shopping street on a Saturday afternoon. Our sympathies are with the injured and their families’.
Other useful links:
- BBC ON THIS DAY 1999: Dozens hurt in London bomb blast
- Outrage – London Nail Bomb postings
- Murderpedia – David John Copeland
- Urban75 forum – Brixton nail bombing
- Wikipedia – David Copeland
- Youtube – KILLERS: david Copeland (the London nail bomber)
- Youtube – Crimes That Shook Britain: The London Nail Bomber
Real Crime: Documentary Nailing the Nail Bomber
Pingback: Ceremony to remember the Brixton Nail Bomb that struck Electric Avenue 15 years ago | Brixton Blog
Pingback: Brixton nail bomb act of remembrance | Love Lambeth
Pingback: 17th April – 16 years on Brixton Remembers 17-24-30 | 17-24-30 no to hate crime campaign
Pingback: 17th April – 16 years on Brixton Remembers 17-24-30 | Lambeth Hate Crime Blog