Two jailed for six years over vodka poisoning independence plot

Published on Friday 25 January 2008 20:30

TWO men who sent vodka bottles filled with poison through the post as part of a campaign for Scottish independence were jailed for six years yesterday.

Wayne Cook, 46, and Steven Robinson, 42, both of Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, sent two miniature vodka bottles filled with lethal concentrations of caustic soda to public figures as part of a campaign by the Scottish National Liberation Army to force the UK government out of Scotland.

One bottle was accompanied by a note which threatened to kill English people "at random and with no discrimination or compunction" and to poison England's water supply.

Cook, who is English, was last week found guilty under anti-terrorism laws of two counts of using noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate. Robinson, a Scot, pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

Passing sentence at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Robert Atherton said: "People are entitled to their views – they are not entitled to the sort of actions which that organisation carries out."

The judge, summarising expert evidence, said coming into contact with the contents of the packages could have been deadly, adding: "What you did was very dangerous indeed. There can be in my view … no sentence other than a substantial period in prison."