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

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With a modern and stylish décor, the bar attracts a trendy and upscale crowd. They also have a great selection of craft beers and wines, making it the perfect place for a night out with friends. Imbert's role in interrogating the Guildford Four, convicted for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974, came under scrutiny after the four were released from jail in 1989. Lord Chief Justice Lane described the police investigation of the Guildford Four as a sequence of false confessions and police deceits. [3] Imbert claimed to have believed the suspects' “confessions” which were made during an interrogation where they were subjected to violence and threats. [4] County forces [ edit ] Balcombe Street gang were sentenced to more than 600 years in jail between them". The Irish Times . Retrieved 4 November 2021.

The bombings were described as a "reign of terror" perpetrated by the IRA in the two years prior to 1975. Fido, Martin; Keith Skinner (1999). The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0515-0. Robert W. White - Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement p.117,118 Rather than storm the flat, which would probably have meant hostage fatalities, the police decided to be patient. With marksmen on rooftops, in adjoining flats and outside the building, both sides prepared for a long battle of nerves. Television and radio crews set up their camps. 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.

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Mr Purnell concedes it is possible Sir Ian Blair, then a young constable with one year's service, arrived on the periphery of the action in Rossmore Road during the four or five minutes that he estimates shots were being fired, but points out that he would not then have been able to see the IRA car, parked several hundred yards away from there.

Last night Scotland Yard said: "These events took place 31 years ago. The commissioner recounted his memory of the incident when he was a young PC in the form of a short anecdote and far too much emphasis is being put on it. He has certainly not sought to put himself forward as a hero when all he did was to make himself as scarce as possible and hide under a bush until the shooting was over."

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Officers have now sealed off the corner of Dorset Square and Balcombe Street, in Marylebone, after a car chase through the West End during which shots were fired. Bob Fenton, one of the three flying squad officers who arrived in Rossmore Road in the Granada (known as the "yellow canary"), also has trouble reconciling the commissioner's recollections with his own. He remembers seeing Mr Purnell, an SPG vehicle and a private car stopped on the bridge, but no other vehicles. The Balcombe Street siege started after a chase through London, as the police pursued Doherty, O’Connell, Butler and Duggan through the streets after they had fired gunshots through the window of Scott’s restaurant in Mount Street, Mayfair. In 1956, Imbert joined Special Branch, learning shorthand and Russian during his 17 years with the unit. In 1973, he was made deputy head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch, where he became an expert on European terrorist groups such as Baader-Meinhof, and gave lectures on hostage negotiation and counter-terrorism tactics. Modern view of Balcombe Street, Marylebone. No. 22b, the building involved in the siege, is to the left.

Nineteen people were killed in the ASU's campaign: 16 from bombings and three in shootings. Six of the dead were British military personnel, one was a London police officer, one was a member of the bomb squad, and 11 were civilians. The murdered oncology professor has a plaque in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, the inscription of which reads: Imbert was created Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in 1994, and Lord Lieutenant in 1998, an office he held until 2008.The commissioner says that having consulted maps he now realises that before going to Dorset Square, where the siege later unfolded, he arrived in the area around the junction of Park Road and Rossmore Road. There was "a tremendous amount of running around" and shots being fired "and the sergeant and I decided this was a very bad place to be". Photo: Mr John Matthews and his wife Shelia, aged 53, the couple who are the hostages for the four IRA gunmen holed up in the council flat at 22b Balcombe Street, Marylebone. The couple are pictured at a dance. Chancellor, Alexander (6 April 2007). "We all rewrite history to make our roles in it more interesting". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 July 2011. (Note: article title refers to another individual, not Purnell)