Neil McKenzie and Trevor Muirhead have been convicted of sending a ‘bomb’ to Celtic’s manager.
Covert recordings made by a police device hidden in the car of defendant Neil McKenzie had formed a major part of the prosecution’s case.
The trial in Glasgow of the men accused of sending an improvised device to Celtic manager Neil Lennon had taken an unexpected turn on 28th March. Until then the charge had been attempted murder, but this was changed to assault.
The judge Lord Turnbull told the Jury “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.”
In the secretly recordings, McKenzie along with co defendant Trevor Muirhead were allegedly heard to be discussing the disposal of items. The prosecution said it was about hiding evidence from the police. Later, one of the defendants was recorded saying “I think we should get enough stuff together and plant one outside the police station. I think they’ll get the message. Put the shitters right up them, by the way.”
Sentencing will conclude in April.