Pair on trial for Celtic boss 'bomb plot'

Two men went on trial on Monday accused of plotting to murder Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two other high-profile supporters of the Glasgow club with parcel bombs.

Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, are charged with conspiring to assault and kill Lennon, former Scottish lawmaker Trish Godman and lawyer Paul McBride, by sending them homemade explosive devices.

The Glasgow offices of an Irish nationalist group, Cairde na hEireann (Friends of Ireland), were also targeted, the High Court in Glasgow heard.

Both men have denied the charges against them, which are said to have taken place between March and May last year.

It is alleged that the package sent to Lennon at Celtic's training centre included a plastic bottle containing the explosive substance triacetone triperoxide.

A wire and a plastic bag containing a bag of nails and a watch component were attached to the package. A similar device was sent to McBride.

Muirhead and McKenzie are charged with sending the devices with the intention that the contents, capable of causing severe injury and death to the recipients, would ignite and explode when opened.

It is also alleged that they bought the components for the devices at two shops and induced another man to buy cream peroxide.

The device was allegedly sent to Lennon last year during an upsurge in long-running sectarian tensions between Celtic, predominantly supported by Catholics, and Glasgow rivals Rangers, whose followers are mainly Protestants.

A few weeks before, Lennon and Rangers then-assistant coach Ally McCoist had a heated touchline confrontation during an ill-tempered Scottish Cup clash which saw more than 200 arrests inside and outside the stadium.

Lennon, a Catholic from Northern Ireland, has been the target of sectarian attacks throughout his career, including an assault which led to two men being jailed in 2009.

Lennon has also had bullets sent to him in the post.

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