Name/Title
Scale model showing bomb damage to the Grand Hotel BrightonEntry/Object ID
50Description
Model to 1:50 scale of the centre section of the Grand Hotel Brighton, in a custom made perspex case. There are removable panels to show the centre part of the model, before and after the bombing of 12th October 1984.Use
In 1986 this model was used at the Old Bailey trial of IRA member, Patrick Magee, to illustrate the damage to the hotel.Context
The model of the Grand Hotel was made by PC Andrew Jones of Sussex Police in 1986. The IRA bomb exploded on 12 October 1984 in room 629 when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, members of the Government and delegates attending the Conservative Party’s annual conference were staying at the hotel. Five people were killed and 34 injured. Two years later, the model was used in the Old Bailey trial of IRA member, Patrick Magee, who was subsequently found guilty of planting the bomb. During the trial it would have been used by the prosecution to demonstrate where the bomb was hidden, especially in relation to the room that was linked to Magee.
PC Jones, who made the model had previously made models professionally prior to joining the police and was freed from other duties to construct it, over a ten week period. The extent and correct scale of the damage was obtained by measurements taken from photographs of the scene, comparing them to the known measurements of fixed points of the building.