Admiral Duncan
Photo: Beer In The Evening
David Copeland bombed the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Old Compton Street, Soho, London. Three people died, and no less than 86 people were injured. Andrea Dykes, 27, from Colchester, Essex, was killed when the bomb tore through the pub. Her husband Julian, 25, was seriously injured. John Light, 32, best man at their wedding, and friend Nik Moore, 31, also died. Copeland, 23, of Cove, Hampshire, was convicted of murder and sentenced to six life sentences in June 2000.
A memorial in the form of a hanging sculpture with a light for each person who died has been installed in the Admiral Duncan. The plaque reads: “The Admiral Duncan will always remember our friends who were killed or seriously injured on April 30, 1999.”
The London Authority have given £800 towards an outdoor memorial to be erected in ‘Soho Green’, a site round the corner from the Admiral Duncan, which is being redeveloped into a community park and to provide a green space for residents, schoolchildren, gardeners and visitors.
In a sad postscript to this tragedy, John Morley, the former manager of the Admiral Duncan, who survived the bomb attack, was attacked by a gang of thugs on London’s South Bank on the night of October 30/31 2004. John suffered multiple injuries in the attack and died later in hospital. A candlelit vigil was held for him on November 5th 2004. On 14 December 2005, Reece Sargeant, 21, Darren Case, 18, a youth, aged 17, and the girl, aged 15, were convicted at the Old Bailey of Manslaughter.
