Ian Shingler, a 51-year-old man from Harold Hill, Essex, was involved in a bomb hoax incident that prompted a significant police response on January 15, 2023. At approximately 2:30 pm, Shingler contacted authorities with false information claiming the presence of a bomb at his residence on Redcar Road. This led to an immediate lockdown of the area, with armed police officers arriving swiftly to secure the scene.
Nearby residents were evacuated from their homes for safety and relocated to Drapers’ Academy, which served as a temporary base for police operations. The standoff lasted three hours, culminating in Shingler emerging from his home in only his underwear, after which he was arrested without further incident. The event disrupted the local community in Harold Hill, a suburb in the London Borough of Havering.
Shingler appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court via video link from HMP Pentonville on March 16, 2024, where he pleaded guilty to the bomb hoax charge. His defence barrister, Carolina Breckon, requested an adjournment for a psychiatric report, which Judge Gordons approved, postponing sentencing until May 2024. This guilty plea marks another chapter in Shingler’s history of serious offending.
Shingler has a documented criminal background involving explosives and sexual offences. In July 2015, he caused the evacuation of around 300 residents from the Orchard Village estate in Rainham after informing police that he possessed explosives in his flat and intended to harm himself. Upon arrival, officers discovered the oven door destroyed and remnants of a homemade explosive device on a baking tray. Further searches revealed a kilogram of TATP (acetone peroxide), an unstable explosive substance also used in the 7/7 London bombings, which tested at 82 per cent purity and had been purchased online. Additionally, an improvised explosive device powered by a nine-volt battery, a notepad with bomb-making instructions, and a suicide note were found in the property. Nearly 100 officers from across London responded to the scene.
Months before the 2015 incident, Shingler had been arrested for possession of child sexual abuse images. In 2016, he was sentenced to nine years in prison at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty to four offences: possession of ammunition and a firearm without a certificate, having an explosive substance under suspicious circumstances, and possessing indecent images of children. This prior conviction underscores Shingler’s pattern of dangerous and illegal behaviour, combining threats involving explosives with child sexual exploitation material.
The Metropolitan Police, responsible for the Havering area, led the investigations into both the 2023 hoax and the earlier incidents. Sources for this account include reports from the Romford Recorder and court proceedings at Snaresbrook Crown Court.