Two brothers in their 60s were charged last night in connection with the Mardi Gra bombings. Mr Ronald Russell Pearce (66), retired, and Mr Edgar Eugene Pearce (60), unemployed, both from London, will appear at Horseferry Road magistrates court this morning, Scotland Yard said.
They are charged that on or before April 28th this year they conspired together to have in their possession home-made firearms together with ammunition with intent to endanger life; to make an unwarranted demand that an amount of cash be supplied to them from Barclays Bank plc with menaces; and to make an unwarranted demand with menaces that an amount of cash be supplied to them from Sainsbury's.
The Mardi Gra bomber has struck 36 times since December 1994, mainly against Barclays and Sainsbury's branches in the south-east of England. Other targets have included homes, telephone boxes and offices.
The last device was discovered in Eltham High Street, south east London, on March 17th.
More than 30 home-made bombs have been left at branches of Barclays Bank. Several have exploded but no one has been badly injured.
The devices have been home-made, built from shotgun cartridges, rifle bullets, springs, metal tubes and timers. They have usually been concealed in books, magazines and video boxes, and have all carried the signature "Mardi Gra".
A third man, in his 30s, also held on Tuesday night, was released on police bail. A Yard spokesman said it was on unrelated matters.
The arrests came after a huge surveillance operation.
The bomber first came to prominence in December 1994 when packages were sent to six London branches of Barclays in video-cassette boxes. The front of the boxes showed a picture from the film Reservoir Dogs with the words "Welcome to the Mardi Gra Experience" printed on top.
Inside was a simple device which fired a shotgun cartridge. The first two went off, causing slight burns to employees, but the others were defused.
Over the next 14 months, the bomber struck a further 19 times. Targets included a camera shop in Kent, a farm in Cambridgeshire and telephone boxes on London street corners.
The attacks continued into 1998. There were three in one day at three branches of Sainsbury's in November last year.
Police feared the bomber was increasingly prepared to injure his targets because earlier devices were not designed to explode.