THE armed bedside guard placed on an Irishman injured in Sunday's IRA bus bomb was lifted yesterday after Scotland Yard said he was no longer suspected of being a terrorist.
For more than 24 hours six armed police officers wearing bullet proof vests paced outside the private room where Mr Brendan Woolhead (33), of Finglas, Dublin, was being treated for a fractured skull and pelvis.
However, yesterday a Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that armed guards had been removed because there was no evidence to suggest Mr Woolhead was involved in the IRA bombing.
"There is no evidence to suggest any involvement by any of those people recovering in hospital and so the security measures have been lifted," said the spokesman.
He also vehemently denied the suggestion that the armed guard was enforced because he was Irish.
After being caught in Sunday's IRA bus bomb in London's West End, Mr Woolhead and a couple from Torquay were immediately taken to St Thomas's hospital to be treated.
Within hours of his arrival, Mr Woolhead was moved to a private room on the 12th floor in Hillyers ward, which is normally used by the Foreign Office to treat diplomats.
It is divided into a series of rooms for security reasons. Armed guards were immediately posted outside his room and police monitored all the hospital's entrances.
A spokeswoman for St Thomas's said that hospital staff were used to seeing armed police officers wandering around the buildings because they treat prisoners from the two main jails in London.
"The presence of armed guards would not affect any patient's treatment or the staff's attitude towards them," she added.
Mrs Wilma MacPherson, acting chief executive at St Thomas's, said Mr Woolhead and his family were very anxious and upset by the incident.
She added that he had had a very good day" but would remain in hospital for several days. His girlfriend and parents, who flew from Dublin on Monday, are now at his bedside.
Three others remain in hospital, including the bus driver, Mr Bob Newitt, who suffered chest and back injuries. His condition was described as "serious but stable."
Mr Rolf Hobart, a businessman from Torquay, remains critical and in intensive care with facial injuries. His fiancee, Denise, is stable and hopes to be able to see Mr Hobart soon.
Relatives of the Torquay couple, who were on a belated Valentine's Day trip to London, were maintaining their bedside vigils and refused to speak to the press.
"I have nothing to say about the people who planted this bomb. If I said anything it would not be printable so I am not going to say anything," said Mr Jan Hobart, a brother of Mr Rolf Hobart.