Pair conspired to assault Lennon (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Pair conspired to assault Lennon

4:25pm Friday 30th March 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Two men have been convicted of conspiring to assault Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other high profile supporters of the club in a parcel bomb plot.

Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie sent devices they believed were capable of exploding to the football boss, former MSP Trish Godman and the late Paul McBride QC, as well as the republican organisation Cairde Na hEireann, in March and April last year.

McKenzie was also convicted of posting an item to 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.

Muirhead was cleared of this charge after the jury returned a not proven verdict.

A jury of 11 women and four men took almost two and a half hours to find the pair guilty by majority verdict of the conspiracy to assault charge and McKenzie by unanimous verdict for sending another suspicious package to Lennon, following a five-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Muirhead, 44, from Kilwinning, and McKenzie, 42, from Saltcoats, both Ayrshire, were originally accused of conspiring to murder their targets but the charge was thrown out due to insufficient evidence.

The pair had denied the charges against them.

The case against them centred on five suspicious packages, two of them addressed to Lennon, which were discovered last spring.

None of the devices sent were viable, the court heard, but prosecutors argued that both accused believed four of them were capable of exploding or igniting.