Kenneth Robert HoworthGM (28 September 1932 – 26 October 1981) was a British army officer and an explosives officer with London's Metropolitan Police Service who was killed whilst attempting to defuse a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in Oxford Street.
On 26 October 1981, police received warnings that bombs on a busy shopping street in central London would explode within thirty minutes. A booby-trapped improvised explosive device (IED), planted by the IRA, was discovered in the basement toilet of a Wimpy restaurant on Oxford Street. While attempting to defuse the bomb, Howorth was killed instantly when it detonated.[2]
Howorth was survived by his wife Ann (who later died on 25 November 2003), his son Steven, and his daughter Susan. In 1983, he was posthumously awarded the George Medal for gallantry.
In 1985, IRA Volunteers Paul Kavanagh and Thomas Quigley, both from Belfast, were convicted of Howorth's murder, along with other attacks, including the Chelsea Barracks nail bomb in September 1981, and each was given five life sentences with a minimum tariff of thirty-five years. However, in March 1999, the Northern Ireland Sentence Review Commission ordered the two men's release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, a decision immediately challenged at judicial review by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw.[3]Mr Justice Girvan speedily rejected the challenge, finding that the wisdom or fairness of the Northern Ireland Sentencing Act 1998, which established the early release scheme, was not a matter for the court and commenting "History will be the ultimate judge". The men were released on 23 March 1999.[4]
kenneth, howorth, kenneth, robert, howorth, september, 1932, october, 1981, british, army, officer, explosives, officer, with, london, metropolitan, police, service, killed, whilst, attempting, defuse, bomb, planted, provisional, oxford, street, gmborn, 1932, . Kenneth Robert Howorth GM 28 September 1932 26 October 1981 was a British army officer and an explosives officer with London s Metropolitan Police Service who was killed whilst attempting to defuse a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in Oxford Street Kenneth HoworthGMBorn 1932 09 28 28 September 1932Littleborough Lancashire EnglandDied26 October 1981 1981 10 26 aged 49 London EnglandPolice careerDepartmentMetropolitan Police ServiceService years1973 1981AwardsGeorge MedalHoworth served for twenty three years with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps RAOC with postings to Austria Japan Tripoli in Libya Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong and various United Kingdom bases He reached the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 Conductor before leaving to join the Metropolitan Police Service as a civilian explosives officer in 1973 1 On 26 October 1981 police received warnings that bombs on a busy shopping street in central London would explode within thirty minutes A booby trapped improvised explosive device IED planted by the IRA was discovered in the basement toilet of a Wimpy restaurant on Oxford Street While attempting to defuse the bomb Howorth was killed instantly when it detonated 2 Howorth was survived by his wife Ann who later died on 25 November 2003 his son Steven and his daughter Susan In 1983 he was posthumously awarded the George Medal for gallantry In 1985 IRA Volunteers Paul Kavanagh and Thomas Quigley both from Belfast were convicted of Howorth s murder along with other attacks including the Chelsea Barracks nail bomb in September 1981 and each was given five life sentences with a minimum tariff of thirty five years However in March 1999 the Northern Ireland Sentence Review Commission ordered the two men s release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement a decision immediately challenged at judicial review by the Home Secretary Jack Straw 3 Mr Justice Girvan speedily rejected the challenge finding that the wisdom or fairness of the Northern Ireland Sentencing Act 1998 which established the early release scheme was not a matter for the court and commenting History will be the ultimate judge The men were released on 23 March 1999 4 See also EditList of British police officers killed in the line of dutyReferences Edit Trust Police Roll of Honour Police Roll of Honour Trust 1 Time Magazine Once More Terror in the Streets Frank Millar Surprise as British seek review of IRA releases The Irish Times 23 March 1999 IRA men freed after Straw s court move fails The Herald Glasgow 24 March 1999 http www historybytheyard co uk gallantry htm This biographical article related to the British Army is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kenneth Howorth amp oldid 1138687856, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
