Man accused of Hyde Park bombing that killed four is freed on bail

 
File photo dated 20/07/1982 of dead horses covered up and wrecked cars at the scene of carnage in Rotten Row, Hyde Park, after an IRA bomb exploded as the Household Cavalry was passing. John Anthony Downey will appear at at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with the murder of four soldiers in the IRA Hyde Park bomb in 1982. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday May 24, 2013.
PA Wire
1 August 2013
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A man accused of murdering four British soldiers in the Hyde Park bombing 30 years ago was granted bail today.

John Downey, 61, was released by an Old Bailey judge on 10 conditions, including wearing an electronic tag and living at a friend’s home in North London.

The Hyde Park bomb was one of the IRA’s most notorious mainland atrocities which cost the lives of the four soldiers, seven horses and wounded 50 others.

One of the horses, Sefton who was struck by 38 pieces of shrapnel, recovered to become a symbol of the nation’s resistance to the terrorists. The bomb, which was concealed in a car, exploded in July 1982 as the Blues and Royals rode from their barracks to the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Less than two hours later a second explosion in Regent’s Park killed seven Royal Green Jackets bandsmen.

Downey, of Donegal, has been charged only with the Hyde Park bombing. He is accused of murdering Roy Bright, Dennis Daly, Simon Tipper and Geoffrey Young and with “intending to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.”

At the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Sweeney allowed restricted reporting of the successful bail application. Among the conditions were a £15,000 security and a total of £55,000 in sureties from six different people. Downey will have to continue to surrender his passport, follow a 7pm to 7am curfew and report daily to a police station. He had been in Belmarsh top security prison since his arrest at Gatwick in May and will appear again at court on September 6.

In 1987 Gilbert McNamee was charged with making the Hyde Park bomb and jailed for 25 years. He served 12 years before being freed under the Good Friday agreement.

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