New IRA parcel bombs sent to London and Glasgow linked to 2014 campaign, police say

Police investigating link with previous campaign targeting British Army recruitment centres

Letter bombs that were posted across the UK this year in a campaign claimed by the New IRA are linked to explosive packages sent to British Army recruitment centres in 2014, police have revealed.

Four packages containing incendiary devices were sent to locations in London and Glasgow in March, while a fifth device was discovered at a postal depot in Ireland.

They sparked security alerts and evacuations at Heathrow, London City Airport, Waterloo railway station and the University of Glasgow.

Only one device partially detonated, bursting into flames in an office building near Heathrow airport, and no one was seriously injured.

Scotland Yard said forensic analysis demonstrated “particular similarities between the devices and the methodology” with packages sent to British Army recruitment centres five years ago.

That campaign, which was also claimed by the New IRA, was the first of its kind in almost a decade.

Explosive packages were sent to locations in Oxford, Brighton, Canterbury, Slough, Aldershot, Reading and an RAF careers office in Kent.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for UK counterterror policing, said: “Our inquiries continue, but clearly a key element of the investigation now is the link between the devices previously sent in 2014, and the five sent earlier this year.

“As with any investigation, we will be led by the evidence, but at this stage, our principal line of inquiry is that the devices were sent by a violent dissident republican group.

“The devices that were sent not only put their intended recipients in danger, but also endangered the lives of all those who handled and processed the parcels both in the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK.

“This was an extremely dangerous and reckless act and I would urge anyone who may have information about those responsible to contact police.”

No arrests have yet been made, amid fresh concern about rising New IRA activity.

The group, which was formed in 2012 by the Real IRA and several armed republican vigilante factions, detonated a large car bomb in Derry in January and admitted accidentally shooting journalist Lyra McKee dead during riots in April.

Police have issued advice urging postal services, transport hubs and universities to be on the alert for new letter bombs – a tactic dating back to the Provisional IRA’s terror campaigns in the 1970s.

Detectives are appealing to hear from any postal workers who may have come into contact with the devices between 1 March and 22 March.

“You may have information that could help us with our investigation and it would also help with our forensic inquiries to be able to eliminate anyone who may have innocently come into contact with any of the five parcels after they were posted,” Mr Haydon said.

Three of the packages were discovered at Waterloo railway station, Heathrow and London City Airport on 5 March, and a fourth at the University of Glasgow the following day.

On 22 March, a fifth package was recovered at a postal depot in Limerick in the Republic of Ireland.

The only package that detonated was one sent to Heathrow airport (Getty)

Investigators believe the package failed to reach its intended destination in the UK and was returned to the National Return Letter Centre – the depot for all undeliverable mail in Ireland.

A photograph of the fifth package showed it was addressed to Charing Cross, which is both a road junction and railway station in London.

The New IRA’s claim of responsibility said three parcel bombs were sent to “commercial targets” while the remaining two were directed to British army recruitment offices.

Police said the packages were all A4-sized white postal bags and contained “small improvised explosive devices” that were capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened.

They had been posted from the Republic of Ireland, with false senders’ addresses in Dublin written on the outside.

The identical packages were addressed by hand, with stamps from a limited 2018 Valentine’s Day range produced by Ireland’s An Post service, featuring the words “Love Eire”.

Anyone with information is asked to contact UK police in confidence by calling 0800 789 321 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.