The bomb detonated prior to reaching the City of London, where it was thought the intended target was Liverpool Street station at rush hour.

[1][2] Adrian Vincent Donnelly, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, then shot Post Office engineer Peter Chalk in the chest, and killed train driver Julius Stephen, who had attempted to catch him.

[3] Donnelly exited the station to the street and threatened people with his revolver before PC Raymond Kiff caught up with him.

[4][5] Adrian Vincent Donnelly, 36 at the time, was originally from Castlefin, County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland but lived in London from 1971.

The day after the West Ham attack, a bomb on a train at Wood Green tube station exploded, injuring a man.