Letter bomb trial : Prosecutors concerned alleged ‘Facebook spat between lawyers’ may be seen as ‘attempt to undermine accused legal representation’

Neil Lennon, Trish Godman & ‘top QC Paul McBride were targets of viable letter bombs. SERIOUS CONCERNS have been privately expressed by Crown Office insiders regarding an alleged FACEBOOK spat reported in national newspapers involving two advocates from the MacKinnon Advocates stable, one a high profile 'Top' QC, Paul McBride, and the other, Victoria J Young who narrowly escaped a criminal prosecution for stalking. Both advocates are involved (Mr McBride as a victim, Ms Young representing the accused) in the trial due to take place next week at the High Court in Glasgow of two men accused of plotting to murder Mr McBride QC, Celtic boss Neil Lennon and ex-MSP Trish Godman by means of sending “Viable” parcel bombs to the Celtic manager and the two high-profile fans of the Glasgow club.

Reports that a Faculty of Advocates investigation into allegations one of the advocates representing the accused in the trial, Victoria J Young who narrowly escaped a criminal prosecution for stalking after being charged by Strathclyde Police had “slagged off” one of the alleged victims of the letter bomb murder plot "top” QC Paul McBride, via the social network website FACEBOOK have so far been DENIED by senior figures from the FoA, however it now transpires insiders at Scotland’s prosecution service have expressed concern the spat between the two QCs, one a victim and the other, representing one of the accused, “may well have damaged or undermined the accused’ legal representation” leading to concerns over the progress of trial, due next week..

Speaking in the earlier report a Faculty insider who wished to remain anonymous said there was concern the allegations may have “an alternative agenda” however the insider did not wish to elaborate further.

It is now generally accepted Scotland has a significant sectarian problem which has grown so bad, the Lord Advocate authorised Crown Office to destroy its statistics on hate crimes against Catholics in case the predominantly EU found out, as reported HERE

BBC News reported on the parcel bombs incident : The first suspect package was intercepted by the Royal Mail in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, on 26 March and was addressed to Mr Lennon at Celtic's training ground in nearby Lennoxtown. Two days later a device was delivered to Labour politician Ms Godman's constituency office in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire. Her staff were suspicious of the package and contacted Strathclyde Police. The third package was addressed to Mr McBride at the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. It is believed to have been posted in Ayrshire before being found in a letter box by a postal worker on Friday and taken to a Royal Mail sorting office in Kilwinning, where police were contacted.

Commenting on the incident, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said: "Let us be quite clear - there is a major police investigation under way to ensure that the individual or individuals concerned are identified and apprehended, and then brought to book with the full force of the law. We will not tolerate this sort of criminality in Scotland, and as an indication of the seriousness with which we view these developments the Cabinet sub-committee met last Saturday to ensure that the police investigation has every possible support to come to a successful conclusion."

Surveillance Society : Police will monitor social network websites

Social networking web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo & others are to be subject to snooping powers proposed by the Government, justified by the Home Office as being needed to tackle crime gangs and terrorists who might use the sites, reports BBC News.

Several reported previous incidents such as this where Central Scotland Police apparently found significant aggressive behaviour by teens, and even evidence related to drug dealing, on the online website Bebo, may well justify more attention by law enforcement agencies to social networking sites to detect crime in the online & offline world …. (three cheers for law & order ! - Ed)

BBC News reports :

Social network sites 'monitored'

Social networking sites like Facebook could be monitored by the UK government under proposals to make them keep details of users' contacts.

The Home Office said it was needed to tackle crime gangs and terrorists who might use the sites, but said it would not keep the content of conversations.

It is part of a plan to store details of all phone calls, e-mails and websites visited on a central database.

Civil liberties campaigners have called the proposals a "snoopers' charter".

Tens of millions of people use sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace to chat with friends, but ministers say they have no interest in the content of discussions - just who people have been talking to.

'Overkill'

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake said the websites contained sensitive personal details and he was concerned information could leak from any government-controlled database.

The Independent newspaper quoted him as saying similar plans to store phone and email records threatened to be the "most expensive snooper's charter in history".

"It is deeply worrying that they now intend to monitor social networking sites which contain very sensitive data like sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political views," he said.

The newspaper also reported that Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer, was considering lobbying ministers over the proposal, which he described as "overkill".

It is right to point out the difficulty of ensuring that we maintain a capability to deal with crime and national security... where that butts up against issues of privacy - Vernon Coaker, Home Office

Phone companies are already required to store details of all calls, such as the time and date, location and who made them, for 12 months for possible use in criminal investigations or court cases.

An EU directive ordering data on internet traffic to be stored in a similar way is due to come into effect in the UK on Monday, 6 April.

The government is also considering proposals to store all communications data on a single database, which may be run by a private company.

It has delayed legislation on the move amid concerns about civil liberties and is due to launch a consultation on the plan "shortly", which will set out privacy safeguards.

The Home Office claims the new database is necessary to allow police and security services "keep up with technological advances" and that billing information is already stored by telecoms companies.

A spokesman said: "The government has no interest in the content of people's social network sites and this is not going to be part of our upcoming consultation.

"We have been clear that the communications revolution has been rapid in this country and the way in which we collect communications data needs to change, so that law enforcement agencies can maintain their ability to tackle terrorism and gather evidence."

'Browsing habits'

Shami Chakrabarti, of campaign group Liberty, said she would be "flabbergasted" if the the police and security services were not monitoring social networking sites already and it was "permissible" on human rights grounds to examine the profile of suspects.

But what she said was unacceptable was the government storing all communications data centrally, which she said would allow them to monitor the web browsing habits of ordinary citizens.

"With websites, as opposed to traditional phone calls and e-mails and so on, the difference between what the website you're visiting and what you're doing there, is really blurred.

"I mean just by my web browsing habits, just by which sites I'm visiting, you'll be able to build up... a pretty detailed picture of who I'm associated with, perhaps what my politics is, what my religious preference is and shopping habits are.

"It's a pretty detailed bit of surveillance about a person, about all individual people, most of whom, let's be clear about it, are completely innocent."

'Difficult area'

She added: "That's the difference between being a suspect and just an ordinary citizen, being part of the mainstream population and going about your business in a normal way."

Details of the social website proposals were disclosed by Home Office minister Vernon Coaker earlier this month, at a Commons committee to examine draft EU directives.

He said that the government was considering acting on social networking sites because they were not covered by the latest proposals from Brussels.

Mr Coaker acknowledged that the plan would raise fresh concerns about the right to privacy, saying he accepted it was an "extremely difficult area".

"It is absolutely right to point out the difficulty of ensuring that we maintain a capability and a capacity to deal with crime and issues of national security, and where that butts up against issues of privacy," he said.

The Cabinet Office already monitors popular social network sites such as Facebook, Netmums, Fixmystreet and MumsNet to see what users are saying about public services.