Son of Tartan terrorist jailed

Adam Busby junior sent out menacing packages containing shotgun cartridges as part of a warped campaign to free his dad from jail.

He then made threatening phone calls as he sipped a pint of lager in a Paisley pub.

Adam Busby senior, a former soldier with the Argylls, founded the Scottish National Liberation Army, a tiny cell of self-styled freedom fighters in the 1980s to resist "mass English immigration".

He is locked up in Dublin facing terror charges and, Tony Lenehan, defending, told the High Court in Edinburgh, his 34-year-old son had tried, without success, to lobby political leaders about the plight of his father who has a degenerative disease and might die in jail.

"It is clear this has mushroomed in his mind and dominates his thinking," said the lawyer.

Before his arrest by armed police, Busby junior had sent terror packages to First Minister Alex Salmond, the SNP's Glasgow HQ and English-born MSP Mike Rumbles.

After sending out six suspect packets he phoned journalists to tell them what he had done.

In court Busby junior of Morar Drive, Paisley, pleaded guilty to charges of breach of the peace, a Firearms Act charge and flouting the Criminal Law Act 1977 - all on March 12 this year. He also admitted posting shotgun cartridges to "elected representatives".

Busby, who has a record for Tartan terror crimes, further admitted posting "an item" to Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles in Banchory, intending to make people believe it was likely to ignite or explode. He admitted a similar offence by posting an item to Glasgow City Chambers.

Jailing him, judge Lord Brailsford said that Busby's concern for his father had led to "distorted thinking" but that the offences were plainly disturbing and serious.

Those who received the packages or had to deal with them did not know they were hoaxes.

The judge added: "They were live ammunition and to that extent created a clear and obvious risk to persons who may have handled them."