Widow speaks on 35th anniversary of Harrods bomb

THE widow of one of the six people killed when an IRA bomb exploded outside Harrods in central London 35 years ago said “it broke my heart forever” as she marked the anniversary.

Karen Salvesen-sykes, whose husband Kenneth Salvesen was killed in the attack, returned to the UK for yesterday’s memorial event.

She said: “I think it’s important to come and stand with the other people who went through that experience, to honour him, to let people remember and show that we don’t forget, and that these things matter, so hopefully it won’t happen again.”

Six people were killed and 90 injured when a car bomb ripped through the Hans Crescent entrance to the busy department store on December 17, 1983.

At 12.45pm the IRA sent a warning that the bomb was imminent, but the area was not evacuated and it exploded at 1.30pm.

Three Metropolitan Police officers – Inspector Stephen Dodd, 34, Sergeant Noel Lane, 28, and Pc Jane Arbuthnot 22 - were killed with a police dog named Queenie.

Three members of the public – Kenneth Salvesen, 28, Jasmine Cochrane Patrick, 25, and Philip Geddes, 25 – were also killed.

Mrs Salvesen-sykes arrived at Heathrow Airport from the US on December 18, 1983, with their fouryear-old son to spend Christmas with her husband of seven and a half years, but Mr Salvesen, who was working in London, was not there to meet them.

“Of course, Ken did not meet the plane as we had expected and then the story really unfolded after that,” Mrs Salvesen-sykes said.

“It was quite unreal and just to think back on it, it was just unbelievable, really, it broke my heart forever.”

Superintendent Mark Lawrence, who laid a wreath on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, said the “face of terrorism” may have changed since the attack but the repercussions remain the same.

“I think although the face of terrorism has changed over the years the results haven’t,” he said.

“And the fact that we lost three colleagues 35 years ago, and that we continue to lose colleagues and members of the public today, means we can never ever forget the tragic events that happened 35 years ago.

“We are still sadly in a position where nothing has really changed, terrorism comes from a different place now but what it leaves behind hasn’t changed.”