By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:18 PM on 20th April 2011
- One was sent to Neil Lennon two days after touchline clash with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist
Parcel bomb: Viable device was sent to Celtic boss Neil Lennon, 39
Parcel bombs were sent to Celtic football manager Neil Lennon in an escalation of the sectarian tensions that have blighted the Scottish football season, it has emerged.
A lawyer and a politician - both prominent Celtic supporters - have also been sent bombs, which were 'designed to cause real harm to the person who opened them', police said today.
Now a number of high-profile figures connected with the traditionally Catholic club, club have been warned by police to be extra vigilant.
It follows an incident In January, when Lennon and two of his players were sent bullets in the post. They were intercepted before they reached the Glasgow club.
The latest scare comes after last month's Old Firm cup match that descended into violence and saw Lennon clash with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist after the final whistle.
The pair had to be pulled apart after Lennon reacted angrily to said when the pair went to shake hands.
One of the bombs addressed to the Celtic manager was sent two days after that game.
In all two suspect packages were addressed to Lennon and one to Paul McBride QC and former Labour MSP Trish Godman.
Today Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson has urged people with a 'high profile in the media' to be 'vigilant'.
Mr McBride is one of Scotland's most-recognised QCs.
Last week he accused the SFA of bias towards the traditionally protestant Rangers when McCoist, along with players Madjid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf, all escaped bans after being charged with misconduct for their behaviour during and after the Old Firm cup clash.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon clashes with Rangers' Ally McCoist at the end of a fiery Scottish Cup clash at Celtic Park last month
Issuing his warning, Chief Supt Nicolson said: 'In terms of the general public, there is no danger, there is no risk. This is focused on high-profile people who have been in the media, who need to take sensible precautions.'
Strathclyde Police Detective Superintendent John Mitchell said sending the packages was a 'despicable and cowardly act'.
Today a major investigation was under way after officers confirmed the devices were 'viable'.
Police confirmed they launched a major investigation after two 'suspect packages' were intercepted at Royal Mail sorting offices last month, both addressed to the Celtic manager.
The first one was found in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, on March 4 and the second was intercepted on March 26 in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire.
Two days later, on March 28, a parcel for Ms Godman, the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, was delivered at her constituency office.
The most recent package was intercepted last Friday at a postbox on Montgomerie Terrace in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, and was addressed to Mr McBride, who represented Lennon at Hampden during his recent dispute with the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
Targets: Lawyer Paul McBride QC, left, and Labour MSP Trish Godman, who are both associated with Celtic, were sent parcel bombs
Supt Mitchell said: 'The initial assessment was that they may have been a hoax. That being said, the investigation that followed was very important.
'We sent devices to specialists for forensic examination and, on the back of that, we now realise they were indeed viable devices.
'They were definitely capable of causing significant harm and injury to individuals if they had opened them.
'It is important to say that there is no doubt that there is someone out there with information that can assist us and take this inquiry forward and the quicker the better.'
A VICTIM OF PERSECUTION
December 2000 After ten years of playing in England Neil Lennon signs for Celtic
March 2001 Abused by a section of his own fans while playing for Northern Ireland
August 2002 Quits international football after allegedly receiving death threats from an Ulster paramilitary group
June 2007 Leaves Celtic for Nottingham Forest
March 2008 Appointed coach of Celtic
September 2008 Assaulted in the West End of Glasgow. His attackers were jailed for two years each
March 2010 Appointed Celtic manager
January 2011 Bullets sent in the post to the Celtic manager are intercepted in the post
March 2, 2011 Clashes with Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist after a fiery Old Firm cup match that saw three Rangers players sent off. Celtic won 3-0.
March 2011 Two parcel bombs addressed to Lennon are intercepted
Speaking at a press conference at Strathclyde Police's Glasgow headquarters, Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson appealed for the public to be 'vigilant'.
He said the packages were not targeted at the general public but said it would be 'sensible to take precautions'.
He said: 'If they receive something in the mail that they are unhappy about or they didn't expect to receive, then they need to think about phoning the police.'
Lennon, 39, has endured threats and abuse during his career and was forced to retire from representing Northern Ireland in 2002 after claiming he had received death threats from an Ulster paramilitary group.
He was the victim of a street attack in the west end of Glasgow in 2008 and earlier this year he received a package containing bullets.
Celtic players Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt, both from Northern Ireland, were also sent bullets.
Last week Uefa announced that Rangers are to be investigated over alleged sectarian chanting by their fans during both legs of their Europa League last-16 defeat by PSV Eindhoven last month.
Scottish politicians have expressed their shock at the latest developments.
First Minister Alex Salmond described the acts as 'disgraceful'.
SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond said: 'Let us be quite clear - there is a major police investigation under way to ensure that the individual or individuals concerned are identified and apprehended, and then brought to book with the full force of the law.
'We will not tolerate this sort of criminality in Scotland, and as an indication of the seriousness with which we view these developments the Cabinet sub-committee met last Saturday to ensure that the police investigation has every possible support to come to a successful conclusion.
'We are confident that this will be the case.
Threat: Paddy McCourt, left, Niall McGinn, right, and manager Neil Lennon - who are all from Northern Ireland - were all sent bullets in the post earlier this year
'These disgraceful events should remind all of us who love the game of football of what unites us as a community.
'It is time to remember what we value in society, and unite to condemn those who use football as a pretext for their pathetic and dangerous prejudices.'
Rangers assistant manager McCoist told the John Beattie Show on BBC Radio Scotland: 'I'm probably as shocked as horrified. It's absolutely preposterous in this day and age. I just hope they find the culprits.
'Unfortunately, the sad thing is no matter what I or other people say and do, I don't think it's going to have a major effect on these individuals. Quite frankly, they are sick individuals who need the police to get them.
Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan said in a statement: 'Scottish football should be a safe and entertaining environment for players, coaches and supporters.
'It must not be used as a platform for religious intolerance or hatred.'
A spokesman for Celtic chairman, Lord John Reid, said the club had been kept fully informed on events and should be making a statement on the matter later today.
Mr McBride said he did not want to comment.
Ms Godman, who is stepping down as West Renfrewshire MSP, did not want to comment either as police have advised her not to.
She has been pictured wearing a Celtic top at the Scottish Parliament.
Policemen escape woodland booby trap bomb
Bombers attempted to lure policemen to their deaths by calling them to a wooded area where a booby trap was set.
The officers only survived because the device they tripped failed to detonate in south Belfast.
Detectives hunting those behind the murder bid have said the bomb and wire attached to a gate at the scene could easily have killed police or members of the public.
The failed attack in a residential area off Annadale Embankment is being blamed on dissident republicans opposed to the peace process.
A police forensic expert arrives to examine the bomb found in south Belfast after officers were lured towards the device by a phone call claiming a woman was in distress in the area
Earlier this month the same extremists murdered Police Constable Ronan Kerr, who died after a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh, Co Tyrone.
Superintendent Chris Noble said the officers had called army bomb experts to the scene of the latest alert once they spotted the device.
Mr Noble said: 'They confirmed it was viable, and indeed it was capable of serious injury and indeed death.'
He added: 'Serious injury and death, not just to the police officers who were responding to a 999 call about a woman in distress, but also serious injury and death to a number of potential runners in the area, to people who could have been walking dogs, who regularly go through the wooded area, and indeed, that gate.'
Police are on high alert for attacks by dissident republicans following the death of Pc Kerr.
Police close off the Annadale Embankment in Belfast after police answering a bogus call for help survived a booby-trap bomb attack
In the days following his murder on April 2, it emerged hundreds of motorists were allowed to drive past a van containing a 500lb bomb in Newry.
The underpass on the main Belfast to Dublin Road was closed after the suspect vehicle was found by police on April 7, but cones were later removed.
Police said the cordon had been removed by motorists.
They described the 500lb bomb as 'sophisticated and substantial'.
Dissidents are believed to have stepped up their activity in Northern Ireland ahead of the May 5 Assembly elections.
Policing Board acting-chairman Brian Rea urged people to be vigilant after the discovery of the latest booby trap.
'These police officers were responding to a call for assistance and it is simply fortuitous that this device did not detonate,' he said.
'Whilst it is believed the target was police, given the location, this could easily have been detonated by a member of the public passing through.
'With the people responsible for leaving this and other devices showing complete recklessness, there is a need for community vigilance and support for police at this time.'
Neil Lennon was an annoying player unless he played for your team but to call him a thug is ridiculous. The bile and hatred dierected at him has been going on ever since he signed for Celtic,and for no other reason than he was a catholic from N Ireland signing for Celtic. As for his behaviour at the "old firm" game W Smith of Dundee? Really? You've never seen two managers have to be held apart? No blows were thrown, Coisty said something to provoke and he was provoked yet he is somehow the worst villain you've ever seen? The behaviour of the Rangers player who manhandled the ref was far worse yet he didn't even get a ban? As an atheist I don't get the religous thing at all but to try and blame the victim is madness, as is trying to say both sides are as bad as each other. I can assure you that here in Newcastle, Celtic and their fans have always been welcome unlike the other lot who are just full of the sort of hatred that has led to this latest outrage.
- Peter, Newcastle, 20/4/2011 15:02
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