Barbara Harrold

Barbara Harrold was killed by a parcel bomb at her home in The Street, Ightham near Sevenoaks.

A 73-year-old man was on trial for her murder 21 years later, but died during the trial.

At the time of the murder, there was no known motive. However, it was suspected that she might have been murdered by a secret enemy that had harboured an obsessive grudge against her for as long as 10 years. It was suggested that it might have been something Barbara Harrold said or did, perhaps at a party, by which she had unwittingly sowed the seeds of a growing hatred that eventually drove her pursuer to kill her.

Barbara Harrold had been the wife of a Kent packaging firm director. The only possible connection to a motive was that her husband’s firm had contracts with the Ministry of Defence. However, it was noted that the parcel was clearly addressed to Barbara Harrold and that she had nothing to do with her husband’s business.

The bomb had been posted on 18 May 1984.

She died six days after opening the parcel bomb at her home. The bomb had been full of airgun pellets and nails which penetrated her stomach and blew off her left hand.

After the explosion she was taken to hospital at Canterbury, but never regained consciousness and died there at 5.45am on 27 May 1984.

The police said:

The parcel bomb was found to have been posted from the Rosacre sub-post office in Beasted near Maidstone three days before Barbara Harrold opened it. It was reported that the bomb was thought to have been dispatched by a man in his 20s. The man was described as:

• About 5ft 10in tall.
• Slim.
• Short curly or unkempt hair.
• Possibly wearing glasses with heavy frames (however various witnesses could not agree on that point).

The bomb itself was described as having been the work of a professional, being made of explosives packed into a 5in long metal tube embedded with carpet tacks and nails.

During the police investigation, 15 people contacted the police to say that they had been near the sub-post office on the day the parcel was posted.

The police later prepared a photofit of a man that they wanted to question who had been seen near Barbara Harrold's home on the day of the bombing. He was described as having been dressed in tweeds and of healthy appearance, and between 55 and 65, 5ft 8in to 5ft 9in tall, stockily built with dark brown hair and to have possibly had a moustache.

The man in tweeds was said to have also been seen near the post office when the bomb was posted.

Following the explosion the man tried fled to Spain, but was eventually extradited in 2002. However, by then he was already quite ill.

The man was described as a retired rat-catcher.

It was alleged that he had sent the bomb to Barbara Harrold following a heated row over a Spanish villa she sold him near Alicante. It was submitted that the man believed that Barbara Harrold and her husband had tricked him into paying a Spanish property tax bill of £600.

Following his extradition, he was transferred to Belmarsh Prison on 31 January 2003, but had already been suffering from angina and diabetes, but refused treatment and following several medical episodes he died on 29 October 2004. His cause of death was given as natural causes.