Adrian Ismay, a 52-year-old prison officer, died on March 15, 2016, eleven days after a bomb exploded under his vehicle in east Belfast. The device was a motion-activated Semtex explosive attached with magnets to the driver's footwell the previous night.

Ismay suffered serious leg injuries and underwent surgery. He seemed to recover at first but then deteriorated and had a heart attack. One of his killers, Christopher Robinson, volunteered alongside Ismay with St John Ambulance. Robinson received a sentence with a minimum of 22 years in 2020 after conviction for murder and possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

Tom Murtagh, former governor of Armagh jail and assistant governor of the Maze, described ongoing risks for prison officers despite the Good Friday Agreement. He noted a similar attempt on his life in the 1980s when republicans tried to shoot him on a motorway and placed a bomb in his wife's car. Murtagh called Ismay a decent man killed solely for his role as a prison officer.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson stated that dissident republicans responsible achieved nothing with the attack. He highlighted Ismay's service as a prison officer and St John Ambulance volunteer.

Ismay, a married father of three born in Cumbria, had served in the Royal Navy during the Falklands War before joining the Prison Service in 1987. He also volunteered with the Community Rescue Service.