| Hateland -
Articles |
04/07/00
- 'Yeah, they're all down to me'
South London Press
ON his arrest, Hitler fanatic Copeland confessed to his
crimes, saying; 'Yeah, they're all down to me, I did them
on my own.' The walls of his room in a house in Sunnybank
Road, Cove, were covered in Nazi battle flags and newspaper
material about the Brixton and Brick Lane bombs.
In a series of taped interviews with cops and with a solicitor
and appropriate adult present, Copeland said he had manufactured
and planted all three bombs. He claimed he was basically
a loner, a Nazi, and believed in a National Socialist
State for the UK.
Copeland said his bombing campaign was designed to spark
a race war, and he chose Brixton because it was the focal
point of the Black community, Brick Lane because of its
significant Asian population and Soho as a centre for
the gay community. He thought the bombs would cause a
backlash and make people vote for the British National
Party (BNP).
Born David James Copeland in IsIeworth. Middlesex, on
May 15,1976, he was the second of three sons. In April
1997 he moved into rented accommodation in Barking, and
during 1997 and 1998 he lived at two further addresses,
Bective Road, Forest Gate, and Jamaica Road, Bermondsey.
He moved back to the family home briefly at the end of
1998, but in January 1999 moved to Cove, Hampshire, where
he was living at the time of his arrest. He left school
at 16. His school records have since been destroyed but
when applying for employment he claimed to have seven
GCSEs.
During his bombing campaign Copeland was an assistant
commissioning engineer working on the Jubilee Line extension.
It was white living in a flat in Forest Gate that he first
tried to build bombs using stolen material, but after
six or seven unsuccessful attempts gave up. Later he claimed
he got bored and started to read through the 'Terrorist
Handbook', and saw how he could make a pipe bomb.
He spent six weeks tinkering and tested three devices.
He then bought sandwich bases from his local shop, old-fashioned
clocks from Littlewoods, and wire and batteries from Tandy,
On these and other components Copeland spent around £1,500.
All three bombs were made to a similar design, and he
used rubber gloves when he made them which he threw away
afterwards. Cops who searched his room after he was arrested
found a membership card in Copeland's name for the far-right
National Socialist Movement.
He claimed to be a unit commander for the group but had
never attended any of its meetings. Copeland was also
briefly a member of the BNP. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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