An elderly woman has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for sending a death threat to Theresa May.
Isabella Jackson, 72, sent a threat by email in 2014 – when May was Home Secretary – as well as making bomb threats to Harrods, London King’s Cross Station, and Edinburgh Airport.
When police removed her internet router, she sent an envelope to Levenmouth Police Office containing powder, and marked with the word ‘Death’.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard she had already spent a year in jail for breaching her probation after making a series of hoax bomb calls in 2011.
Jackson pleaded guilty to four offences, thereby avoiding a much lengthier sentence. She was sentenced to 45 months by Sheriff Grant McCulloch on Thursday.
‘Notwithstanding your age and infirmity, the public requires protection from you and the discouragement of others who might consider the same path,’ Sheriff McCulloch said.
‘Only a custodial sentence is apt for these offences. You did plead guilty, thus avoiding a trial. Thus what would have been a five-year cumulo sentence is restricted to 45 months, backdated to May 2.’
He added that he found it ‘hard to accept’ that Jackson had acted out of loneliness to get attention.
Instead, he described her threats as ‘the deliberate act of a twisted mind’.
‘You used specialist software to hide your IP identity, showing a degree of sophistication and deceit,’ the sheriff said.
Detective Chief Inspector Kenny Armstrong, from Police Scotland’s organised crime and counter-terrorism unit, said the threats had taken resources away from genuine incidents.
‘I am at a loss as to why an elderly woman should choose to carry out this campaign of threats and malice,’ he added.
‘Even when her laptop and phone were seized, she went on to disrupt policing by sending a suspicious package to her local station and still managed to email bomb threats.
‘She has shown no remorse nor given any sort of explanation for her actions, but I am pleased that she has accepted responsibility, resulting in her conviction.’
