Cardiff - A chip shop owner's son had a lucky escape yesterday morning after a letter bomb packed with nails exploded in front of him and customers. The shop in Holywell, north Wales, was said to be busy when Mr Jonathan Davies opened a brown envelope.
Mr Robin Webb, spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, said fish and chip shops could be seen as "legitimate targets" by some activists. But he said five recent incidents "wouldn't be the Animal Liberation Front. We have always had a policy of not endangering life of any kind".
Mr Davies's father, Robert, told how the explosion had sounded "like a shotgun going off" and said everyone nearby was lucky to be alive. "He opened it casually but luckily he did it away from himself," said Mr Davies. No one was injured. Police said they were talking to other forces after a spate of letter bomb attacks in recent weeks.
Also yesterday, a retired doctor, Dr Richard Cockerill (64), was targeted apparently by animal rights protesters who set off a car bomb outside his home in Hurst Green, Surrey. No one was injured but two vehicles were damaged.