A Provisional IRA bombing and shooting at West Ham station killed a train driver and injured seven passengers in 1976.
Key Facts
- Date
- 15 March 1976
- Bomb weight
- 5 lb (2.3 kg)
- Passengers injured
- 7
- Fatality
- Train driver Julius Stephen killed
- Perpetrator
- Adrian Vincent Donnelly, Provisional IRA
- Intended target
- Liverpool Street station at rush hour
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Provisional IRA conducted a campaign of bombings in mainland Britain during the 1970s. Donnelly placed a 5 lb bomb aboard a Metropolitan line train, apparently intending it to detonate at Liverpool Street station in the City of London during rush hour to maximise casualties.
On 15 March 1976, the bomb exploded prematurely in the front carriage at West Ham station, injuring seven passengers. Donnelly then shot Post Office engineer Peter Chalk in the chest and fatally shot train driver Julius Stephen, who had tried to apprehend him, before fleeing to the street.
PC Raymond Kiff pursued Donnelly outside the station, where Donnelly, while shouting at police, shot himself in the chest. He survived and was arrested by Kiff. The attack highlighted the ongoing threat of IRA operations on London's transport network and led to further scrutiny of security on the Underground.