Beorn
06-18-2009, 02:49 PM
Man jailed for 'hate campaign' against top Scottish politicians
A self-styled tartan terrorist was jailed for six years today for a "disturbing" hate campaign.
Adam Busby, 34, admitted sending packages containing shotgun cartridges and threatening notes to a politician and a city council.
He also claimed he had sent explosive devices intended for Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and the SNP headquarters in Glasgow.
Busby, from Paisley in Renfrewshire, claimed the planned attacks were the work of the Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA).
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Brailsford told him: "The offences are all quite plainly disturbing and very serious."
Busby's father, also named Adam, is said to be the founder of the SNLA, which has been involved in numerous terrorist attacks and threats since the early 1980s.
Busby pleaded guilty last month to causing a breach of the peace in March by posting a number of packages to elected representatives and threatening them.
He also admitted calling journalists and telling them he was an SNLA representative and had sent a number of devices to elected representatives.
The court previously heard how the packages he sent were intercepted by staff at the Royal Mail in Aberdeen and Glasgow City Council workers, who had been alerted by police.
One was addressed to Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles and contained two shotgun cartridges and a note which read: "Just because you can't see us doesn't mean we're not there. Next one's a bomb."
The second package, addressed to Glasgow City Council, contained one cartridge and the message: "You are a target for death. Regards, SNLA."
He admitted further charges of posting the packages to Mr Rumbles and Glasgow City Chambers and of possessing shotgun cartridges.
Advocate-depute Neil Beardmore told the court last month that journalists at the Press Association, Daily Record, Scottish Sun and Scottish Television had received anonymous calls to their offices on March 12.
The caller told them six explosive devices had been sent through the post and that four of the devices were intended for Mr Salmond, Mr Rumbles, the SNP headquarters in Glasgow and the City Chambers of Glasgow City Council.
"On each occasion the caller used a recognised code word and claimed that the planned attacks were the work of the Scottish National Liberation Army," the prosecutor said.
One of the journalists managed to get details of the caller's number, which police were later able to link to a mobile phone sim card bought by Busby.
Strathclyde Police launched an armed surveillance operation and he was detained in the town of Johnstone by officers from the force's Tactical Firearms Unit.
The court heard that unemployed Busby served a six-year sentence in 2001 for an offence under the Explosive Substances Act 1883 and was on bail at the time of the current offences.
Tony Lenehan, defending, told the court his client had been trying to highlight the plight of his father, who is ill with a degenerative illness in prison in Ireland awaiting legal proceedings.
Lord Brailsford said he accepted that the articles posted did not, of themselves, have the capacity to explode.
But he said staff who had to deal with them would not have known that and would have been "alarmed" and "frightened".
He also told Busby he had a "bad record of offending", with the 2001 case being the most disturbing of his convictions.
The judge said he accepted Busby had been concerned about his father's predicament – something he said had given rise to Busby's "distorted thinking".
His sentence was backdated to March 16 this year.
Source (http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Man-jailed-for-39hate-campaign39.5379344.jp)
The SNLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_National_Liberation_Army) are as big a joke as the CNLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_National_Liberation_Army). Good to see these looneys locked up behind bars.
A self-styled tartan terrorist was jailed for six years today for a "disturbing" hate campaign.
Adam Busby, 34, admitted sending packages containing shotgun cartridges and threatening notes to a politician and a city council.
He also claimed he had sent explosive devices intended for Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and the SNP headquarters in Glasgow.
Busby, from Paisley in Renfrewshire, claimed the planned attacks were the work of the Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA).
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Brailsford told him: "The offences are all quite plainly disturbing and very serious."
Busby's father, also named Adam, is said to be the founder of the SNLA, which has been involved in numerous terrorist attacks and threats since the early 1980s.
Busby pleaded guilty last month to causing a breach of the peace in March by posting a number of packages to elected representatives and threatening them.
He also admitted calling journalists and telling them he was an SNLA representative and had sent a number of devices to elected representatives.
The court previously heard how the packages he sent were intercepted by staff at the Royal Mail in Aberdeen and Glasgow City Council workers, who had been alerted by police.
One was addressed to Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles and contained two shotgun cartridges and a note which read: "Just because you can't see us doesn't mean we're not there. Next one's a bomb."
The second package, addressed to Glasgow City Council, contained one cartridge and the message: "You are a target for death. Regards, SNLA."
He admitted further charges of posting the packages to Mr Rumbles and Glasgow City Chambers and of possessing shotgun cartridges.
Advocate-depute Neil Beardmore told the court last month that journalists at the Press Association, Daily Record, Scottish Sun and Scottish Television had received anonymous calls to their offices on March 12.
The caller told them six explosive devices had been sent through the post and that four of the devices were intended for Mr Salmond, Mr Rumbles, the SNP headquarters in Glasgow and the City Chambers of Glasgow City Council.
"On each occasion the caller used a recognised code word and claimed that the planned attacks were the work of the Scottish National Liberation Army," the prosecutor said.
One of the journalists managed to get details of the caller's number, which police were later able to link to a mobile phone sim card bought by Busby.
Strathclyde Police launched an armed surveillance operation and he was detained in the town of Johnstone by officers from the force's Tactical Firearms Unit.
The court heard that unemployed Busby served a six-year sentence in 2001 for an offence under the Explosive Substances Act 1883 and was on bail at the time of the current offences.
Tony Lenehan, defending, told the court his client had been trying to highlight the plight of his father, who is ill with a degenerative illness in prison in Ireland awaiting legal proceedings.
Lord Brailsford said he accepted that the articles posted did not, of themselves, have the capacity to explode.
But he said staff who had to deal with them would not have known that and would have been "alarmed" and "frightened".
He also told Busby he had a "bad record of offending", with the 2001 case being the most disturbing of his convictions.
The judge said he accepted Busby had been concerned about his father's predicament – something he said had given rise to Busby's "distorted thinking".
His sentence was backdated to March 16 this year.
Source (http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Man-jailed-for-39hate-campaign39.5379344.jp)
The SNLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_National_Liberation_Army) are as big a joke as the CNLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_National_Liberation_Army). Good to see these looneys locked up behind bars.