Neil Lennon ‘parcel bomb’ trial: Packages had not been franked

PACKAGES sent to Celtic boss Neil Lennon, former MSP Trish Godman and republican group Cairde Na Heireann had not been franked despite appearing to have gone through the postal system, a court has been told.

Postman Ross McDonald said it was “unusual” that the packages, all of which would have gone through the mail centre in Springburn, Glasgow, had not been franked, at the High Court in Glasgow today.

The packages, which were sent within two days of each other in March last year, were all in brown envelopes with printed white labels.

Mr McDonald was giving evidence at the trial of Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, who are accused of conspiring to murder Lennon, Ms Godman and lawyer Paul McBride QC, as well as various people in the premises of Cairde Na Heireann, by sending improvised explosive devices to them.

Mr McDonald had tried to deliver the package to Cairde Na Heireann, at the Gallowgate, Glasgow, on 28 March.

He told the court the shutters were down so the envelope was returned to the Glassford Street post office before being diverted back to the delivery office in Baird Street via the mail centre in Springburn, which handles all the post in the west of Scotland.

Mr McDonald, who is based at the Baird Street office covering the G1-G4 postcodes, said if the package could not be delivered it would eventually be returned to the sender. However, if no return address was provided on the envelope it would have been opened by Royal Mail staff.

Muirhead, from Kilwinning, Ayrshire, and McKenzie, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, deny all the charges against them.

After two failed attempts to deliver the package on March 28 and 29, it was sent to Royal Mail’s National Returns Centre in Belfast.

David McCavana, 41, head of the centre, said he spoke a little Gaelic and explained that Cairde Na Heireann meant “Friends of Ireland”.

He said the package was X-rayed twice, which showed a quantity of nails, a “light sensitive diode”, a bottle and a wire.

Mr McCavana said he was unsure if there was a power supply in the package.

The liquid was tested under his supervision and it did not come up as “hazardous”, he said.

Mr McCavana told the court he thought it was something resembling a “hoax device”.

He also said the centre interacts with the police “seven or eight times a year” about suspicious packages.

The package was opened by staff at the centre and handed to police.

Mr McCavana, who has 25 years of experience working in the postal system, was asked about the three unfranked, under-paid packages.

He said the most likely explanation for this was “human error”.

The package addressed to Lennon at the club’s training ground in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, was intercepted at Kirkintilloch sorting office on Saturday March 26.

The envelope delivered to Ms Godman’s constituency office in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, arrived two days later on Monday March 28, the same day the first attempt was made to deliver the package to Cairde Na Heireann in Glasgow.

Mr McCavana told the court it was possible all three had been posted on the same day, as packets going to offices are often held over the weekend because they are likely to be closed.

He also said it was possible the packages were all dealt with by the same individual at the mail centre in Springburn.

However, Donald Findlay QC, representing McKenzie, asked Mr McCavana during cross examination if it were possible the packages had deliberately not been franked, by someone who had been instructed to “just get them through” the postal system.

Mr McCavana replied: “It is always a possibility, I mean, Royal Mail staff are just like every other member of society. But in my 25 years I have 100 per cent never known that to happen.”