By Paul Ward
AN elderly woman who sent a death threat to Theresa May and caused chaos by issuing threats to bomb Edinburgh Airport has been jailed for more than three years after a judge said she had a “twisted mind”.
Isabella Jackson, 72, also made similar threats against London department store Harrods and the city’s King’s Cross railway station.
Jackson, who had previously spent two years in jail for threatening to blow up a plane carrying former US President Barack Obama, sent an email to aides of Mrs May, who at the time was home secretary, in November 2014 threatening to kill her.
It was considered to be a”‘national security” threat and police seized her laptop and phone, but she still sent a suspect package to her local police station in Levenmouth, Fife, and emailed them bomb threats.
It is thought she acted out of spite after police removed her internet router following previous offences. Sentencing Jackson after she pled guilty to four offences at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, yesterday Sheriff Grant McCulloch said it was hard to accept Jackson had acted out of loneliness to get attention, instead describing it as “the deliberate act of a twisted mind”.
He said: “Of course, these threats had to be taken seriously, resulting in police searches and considerable work to see how viable the threat might be.
“Finally, perhaps annoyed by the police removing your internet router, you sent a card to Levenmouth Police Office, containing powder, and the word ‘death’.”
The parcel sent to the police station caused several police staff and officers to be quarantined causing them “fear and alarm” for many hours. He added: “You claim that this is done out of loneliness, to gain attention. I find that hard to accept.
“To me it is the deliberate act of a twisted mind, quite content to cause the utmost disruption of normal society, from the comfort of your own sofa.
“You used specialist software to hide your IP identity, showing a degree of sophistication and deceit.”
Jackson, of Buckhaven, had shown no remorse for her actions, but Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard yesterday that she avoided a five-year jail sentence by pleading guilty before trial.
Sheriff Grant McCulloch continued: “Notwithstanding your age and infirmity, the public requires protection from you and the discouragement of others who might consider the same path. Only a custodial sentence is apt for these offences.”
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard she had already spent a year in jail for breaching her probation after making a number of hoax bomb calls in 2011.
Police later revealed that Jackson, who was able to make threats despite restrictions being placed on her using the internet following the earlier incident involving the care home.
Detective Chief Inspector Kenny Armstrong, of Police Scotland’s organised crime and counter terrorism unit, said the threats had taken resources away from genuine incidents.
“I am at a loss as to why an elderly woman should choose to carry out this campaign of threats and malice,” he said.
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