Murder plot charge removed from parcel bomb trial

Thursday 29 March 2012

Two men accused of sending improvised explosive devices to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other high profile supporters of the football club are no longer charged with conspiring to murder them due to insufficient evidence.

Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie now stand charged with plotting to assault Mr Lennon, former MSP Trish Godman and the late Paul McBride QC, as well as various people at the premises of Cairde Na hEireann, by posting devices they believed were capable of exploding or igniting.

At the High Court in Glasgow today, trial judge Lord Turnbull directed the jury, telling them the term "and murder" had been deleted from the charge.Lord Turnbull said: "You can only be asked to adjudicate on evidence which, as a matter of law, would be sufficient to entitle you to reach a decision."The evidence led in this case, no matter what you decide to make of it, would never be sufficient in law to entitle you to conclude a conspiracy to murder has taken place."He told the jury the development had arisen during legal debate yesterday afternoon.Muirhead, 44, from Kilwinning, and McKenzie, 42, from Saltcoats, both Ayrshire, face a further charge of dispatching an item by post to Mr Lennon at Celtic Park with the intention of making him believe it was likely to explode or ignite and cause injury or damage to property.Both men deny the charges against them.

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Murder plot charge removed from parcel bomb trial

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