Twenty years on from the devastating 7/7 terror attacks that rocked London, one of the UK’s top counter-terrorism officers has reflected on the horror of that day, and how it changed the course of his life and career.
Commander Dominic Murphy, now head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, was a Hertfordshire Police officer at the time of the 2005 bombings, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700 others.
Four Islamist extremists detonated suicide bombs on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus during the morning rush hour on 7 July 2005, the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil in modern times.
Murphy, then a trained bomb scene examiner, recalled seeing the breaking news from his office in Hertfordshire and making the decision to immediately travel to London to help.
“I was sitting in the special branch office watching the horror unfold on TV. I did something police officers aren’t really supposed to do, I didn’t wait to be deployed. I grabbed my kit and drove straight to London,” he said.
On arrival, he joined the Met’s forensic management team, helping coordinate the recovery of victims and vital evidence from the multiple bomb scenes across the capital.
“What I witnessed was unlike anything I’d seen before, the professionalism, the urgency, and most of all, the compassion,” Murphy said. “The way officers treated the victims and the deceased left a lasting impression on me.”
The experience, he said, was life-changing.
“By the end of that day, I knew I never wanted to work anywhere else. I stayed with the Met and joined counter-terrorism permanently. I’ve been here ever since.”
Murphy was one of many who gathered in London on Sunday to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks. A memorial service was held at Hyde Park’s 7/7 Memorial, where 52 stainless steel pillars stand in silent tribute to each of the lives lost.
Wreaths were laid, and a national minute’s silence was observed at 08:50, the moment the first bomb was detonated.
Murphy said the legacy of 7/7 lives on, not just in memory, but in the mission of those who continue to work to keep the public safe.
“7/7 changed everything. It shaped a generation of counter-terrorism policing. But more importantly, it is a day we remember the victims, the courage of the emergency services, and the resilience of the public. We will never forget.”
