Fife woman to stand trial accused of threatening to kill Theresa May
Isabella Jackson will stand trial in December.
A 72-year-old Fife woman is to stand trial accused of threatening to kill Prime Minister Theresa May, claiming there were bombs planted at two US embassies and sparking a bomb scare at Harrods in London.
Isabella Jackson faces a string of charges over alleged e-mail threats - some of which sparked an investigation by GCHQ intelligence analysts.
Wheelchair-bound Jackson is alleged to have made death threats against Mrs May - then the Home Secretary - in November 2014.
The charge states that on November 24 2014 Jackson behaved in a threatening and abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm at her home in Buckhaven or at the Palace of Westminster and threatened to kill the future PM.
A second charge alleges that on the same day at her home or at the GCHQ in Cheltenham she threatened to kill Mrs May.
The pensioner is further alleged to have sent communications by email to the US embassies in London and Paris with the intent of inducing the false belief that bombs were present at the embassies.
Those offences are said to have happened between December 13 2014 and January 7 2015 at her home and GCHQ.
A fourth charge alleges Jackson send a message to Fife Council between August 30 and September 10 2015 stating that a Susan Johnston had died and caused her annoyance, inconvenience and needless anxiety.
The fifth and final charge alleges that on September 14 2015 Jackson communicated by email with the intent of inducing the belief that there was a bomb at Harrods in Knightsbridge, London.
Ms Jackson faces a total of five charges on indictment of threatening and abusive behaviour and under the Communications Act.
Defence solicitor Alistair Burleigh objected to a move to postpone the trial until December because witnesses were unavailable.
He said: "This does have the appearance of an indictment that was simply put together at the last minute with anything and everything that was in the Crown Office at the time."
Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC set a trial date in December with a further pre-trial hearing in November.