Remembering the Admiral Duncan nail bomb attack 15 years on
The 15th anniversary of the worst homophobic attack to ever occur in Britain will be marked this evening.
At the heart of the capital’s LGBT community on the evening of 30 April 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub on Old Compton Street in Soho was the scene of a nail bomb blast that killed three people and wounded around 70.
The bomb was the third that had been planted by Neo-Nazi David Copeland.
He was attempting to stir up ethnic and homophobic tensions by carrying out a series of attacks across London.
Copeland, from Farnborough, Hants, later admitted causing explosions in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho during 13 days in April 1999.
He is currently serving six life sentences.
Andrea Dykes, 27, who was pregnant, and friends John Light, 32, and Nik Moore, 31, from Essex, were killed in the Soho attack.
This evening survivors, family and friends of those affected by the bombings will gather at 5pm outside the Admiral Duncan, and then at 6.20pm walk round to St Anne’s churchyard for a short act of remembrance conducted by a priest.
A three minute silence at 6.37pm will mark the moment when bomb was detonated.
A poem read out from a member of the Moore family and two songs performed by Diversity Choir will feature in the ceremony.
