Service to mark 40th anniversary of IRA bomb at Harrods that claimed six lives

By Mark Rainey
Published 14th Dec 2023, 11:23 BST
The scene outside Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, 1983 after a republican bomb containing Semtex imported from Libya. Photo: PA WireThe scene outside Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, 1983 after a republican bomb containing Semtex imported from Libya. Photo: PA Wire
The scene outside Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, 1983 after a republican bomb containing Semtex imported from Libya. Photo: PA Wire
A service to mark the 40th anniversary of the IRA bomb in Knightsbridge is being held in London this weekend.

Six people – including three police officers – were killed and 100 more injured, many seriously, when the Semtex and shrapnel device exploded as the area around the Harrods store was being cleared on Saturday, December 17, 1983.

Inspector Stephen Dodd, Sergeant Noel Lane and WPC Jane Arbuthnot of the Metropolitan Police were all fatally injured. Another officer, Constable Jon Gordon, lost both his legs.

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The other three fatalities were civilians – Jasmine Cochrane Patrick, Kenneth Salvesen and Philip Geddes.

The anniversary of the attack is being marked at the scene of the terrorist atrocity, and with a special memorial service at St Paul’s Chruch at Wilton Place in London on Sunday (December 17) at 1.30pm.

Ahead of Sunday’s service Susanne Dodd, the daughter of Inspector Stephen Dodd, will lay a floral tribute at the memorial plaque outside Harrods at 1pm.

In a statement released ahead of the memorial service, the The Harrods Victims & Survivors Group (HVSG) said those attending include survivors of the attack, relatives of the bereaved and a number of elected representatives.

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The Semtex used in the Harrods bomb was supplied to the IRA by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Some of the killed and injured were US citizens and their relatives will be among those in attendance at both events.

The pain of the UK victims has been compounded by the UK Government’s refusal to demand compensation from Libya, while other countries have been successful in securing millions of pounds for Libyan Semtex victims.

The HVSG statement said: “Those bereaved and injured in this attack who held US passports, with direct support of their own US Government, secured substantial compensation from Libya for this attack.

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" US Citizen Mr Mark Macdonald, who was left severely injured in the Harrods attack, received over £1 million from the Libya government whilst those other victims in the UK received nothing.

"Our own UK Government astonishingly told their victims to resolve this matter with the Libyan Government by themselves and refused to open this at the government level.”