A Ryde woman had a lucky escape when she opened her canvas holdall on 26th December 1994 to discover a live bomb inside.
The 24-year-old woman, from Slade Road in Oakfield, had bought the bag in October of that year and had unwittingly been carrying the explosive for 2 months.
The cassette-sized incendiary device had been planted by an animal rights activist in a bid to blow up the shop which had sold it to her.
She discovered the deadly device in a pocket of the holdall when unpacking after returning from a Christmas break.
The terrorist bomb was 1 of several that had been planted in Island shops that year as part of a terror campaign that had caused £2million of damage and completely destroyed Boots in Newport.
On discovering the device, the woman called the police immediately, and it was defused by bomb experts.
Police Inspector Steven Evans commented at the time:
“This was the bomb that got away. Because it did not go off at the time in August, no one knew it was there.
Article continues below this advertisement “The woman only found it when unpacking in her bedroom after going away and was taking things out of the main bag. She decided to look in the side pocket for the first time, and it was then she found the bomb.
“If it had gone off, it could have caused untold damage to her house, and she could have been very badly injured. She is a very lucky lady and is very shocked by what has happened.
“Basically, she had unwittingly been carrying a killer device around with her for 2 months.”
The woman – who did not want to be named – said:
“When I found the package, I wasn’t that worried because I did not know what it was.
“I haven’t really dared to think about the possible consequences if it had gone off.”
The bomb was identical to those used in a spate of attacks on the Island. The first blast occurred in Boots in Newport at midnight on 24th August. An hour later, a second device gutted a sports and model shop in Ryde. Further blasts were sparked in a suede and leather store, a cancer research charity shop and a fishing tackle shop.
In 1997, 45-year-old animal rights activist Barry Horne, from Swindon in Wiltshire, was given an 18-year sentence for the arson attacks on the Isle of Wight and elsewhere.
He died on 5th November 2001 due to kidney failure, brought on by hunger strikes whilst behind bars.
Say no more Slade Road
Lol