Admiral Duncan pub

Infobox terrorist attack
title = Admiral Duncan pub bombing


caption=The Admiral Duncan pub
location = Old Compton Street, Soho, London
target = Admiral Duncan pub
date = April 30, 1999
type = Nail bomb
fatalities = 3
injuries = approximately 70
perps = David Copeland
motive = Homophobia

The Admiral Duncan is a pub in Old Compton Street, Soho in the heart of London's gay district. It is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at Camperdown in 1797.

Bombing

On April 30, 1999, the Admiral Duncan was the scene of a bomb blast when the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement member David Copeland, who was attempting to stir up ethnic and homophobic tensions by organising a series of bombings, detonated a nailbomb which killed three people and wounded around 70.

The dead were identified as Andrea Dykes, 27, four months pregnant; her friend, Nik Moore, 31; and John Light, 32, the best man at the wedding of Andrea and her husband, who was himself seriously injured. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2499000/2499249.stm "On this day"; BBC News] ]

There is a memorial and a plaque in the bar to commemorate those injured and killed in the blast.

History

On 8/10/2008 Deeb and Dickie went for a few pints in the Adder D. A fun time was had by all, the pub plays beats and is throughly enjoyable, so long as you don't mind a bit of man-o-man grabbing.

In December 1881 a customer received eight years penal servitude for various offences in connection with his ejection from the Admiral Duncan publichouse by keeper William Gordon. ["Middlesex Sessions"; The Times, Dec 29, 1881; pg. 10; col A.]

It was once in the ownership of the Scottish & Newcastle Brewery but changed hands in 2004 and is now owned by the Tattershall Castle Group.

The exterior of the bar was repainted in a black and pink motif in late 2006. In late 2005, Westminster City Council decreed that the Admiral Duncan and all other LGBT bars and businesses that operated in its jurisdiction, including those in Soho and Covent Garden, remove their pride flags claiming that such flags constituted advertising which was forbidden in its planning laws. Businesses would be required to apply for permits to be allowed to fly flags but those businesses that did apply for permission found their applications turned down for spurious reasons. Following media allegations of homophobia in the Council, the "I Love Soho" campaign and intense pressure from the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, the Council rescinded its directive and Pride Flags were once again permitted to be flown.

Bar manager David Morley, who survived the bombing, was murdered in London on October 30, 2004 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3969763.stm] .

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2499000/2499249.stm The BBC on the Soho bombing]
* [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/318/7195/1429 Personal experiences of a medic after the attack]
* [http://pubsinlondon.net/LondonPubs/Soho/AdmiralDuncan.shtml The Admiral Duncan in genealogical census listings]

ee also

*List of terrorist incidents
*Violence against LGBT people
*London Gay Men's Chorus (external links section)

References