Parcel bombs were sent to Glasgow Celtic boss Neil Lennon and two high-profile fans of the club in a dramatic escalation of football tensions in the divided city of Glasgow, police said on Wednesday.
The devices targeting Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride and member of the Scottish Parliament Trish Godman were found at various locations across the west of Scotland in the past month.
The packages, which reports said contained liquid-based bombs, were originally thought to be hoax devices but police in Scotland’s biggest city discovered they were viable after conducting tests.
“They were definitely capable of causing significant harm and injury to individuals if they had opened them,” said Detective Superintendent John Mitchell from Glasgow’s Strathclyde Police.
The attempted bombings mark an upsurge in long-running sectarian tensions between Celtic, predominantly supported by Catholics, and rival Glasgow club Rangers, whose followers are mainly Protestants.
Sectarian violence related to the clubs, known collectively as the Old Firm, has always been present in Glasgow but the situation has deteriorated markedly this season.
An ill-tempered Scottish Cup clash last month saw more than 200 arrests inside and outside the stadium and a heated touchline confrontation between Lennon and Rangers assistant coach Ally McCoist.
Target of sectarian attacks
The red-headed Lennon, a Catholic from Northern Ireland, has been the target of sectarian attacks throughout his career, including an assault that led to two men being jailed and having bullets sent to him in the post.
He retired from international football in 2002 after receiving death threats, widely believed to have been made by extremists opposed to a united Ireland.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said a major investigation had been launched to ensure “individuals concerned are identified and apprehended, and then brought to book with the full force of the law”.
“These disgraceful events should remind all of us who love the game of football of what unites us as a community,” he continued. “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.”
The package addressed to Lennon was discovered at a post office on March 26 in the town of Kirkintilloch, just north of Glasgow.
Labour party politician Godman’s parcel was delivered on March 28 to her constituency office in Bridge of Weir, 24km west of Glasgow, while the package for McBride was intercepted on April 15 en route to law offices in Edinburgh.
McBride is one of Scotland’s highest profile lawyers and has represented Lennon in disputes with the Scottish Football Association.
In 2009, two men were jailed for two years after Lennon was assaulted in Glasgow. — AFP