Man guilty in Scottish poison plot

A MAN was found guilty yesterday of being involved in a plot to send poisoned vodka bottles through the post as part of a campaign for Scottish independence.

Wayne Cook, 45, was convicted after two-and-a-half hours of deliberations by a jury of eight men and three women at Manchester Crown Court.

The unemployed father of three of Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, was found guilty under anti-terror laws of two counts of using noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate.

He was one of two men who sent two miniature bottles of vodka filled with lethal concentrations of caustic soda to public figures as part of a campaign by the Scottish National Liberation Army to force the British government out of Scotland.

The other man, Steven Robinson, from Scotland, pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

The two packages were sent to Blackburn to Darwen councillor John Wright and Scottish Daily Express journalist Myra Philp in April 2007. Royal Mail staff intercepted the parcel to Mr Wright but the second made it to Ms Philp.

It was accompanied by a note signed by the liberation army group threatening to kill English people “at random and with no discrimination or compunction” in order to force the British government to withdraw from Scotland. There was also a threat to poison England’s water supply.

The case was adjourned until today for sentencing.