The self-proclaimed leader of the Scottish National Liberation Army who was charged in 2012 with emailing 40 bomb threats targeting the University of Pittsburgh is in ill health and will not be extradited to face the charges.
The Sheriff Court of Lotham & Borders at Edinburgh, Scotland, ruled that Adam Busby, 69, who has been dubbed the “tartan terrorist,” is too ill to be sent to the United States to face a variety of federal charges. The court noted he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009, is now bedridden in a nursing home and has dementia.
In addition to the Pitt bomb threats, Busby also faces of emailing bomb threats to federal courthouses in Pittsburgh, Erie and Johnstown and with threatening then-U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.
Authorities here have never given a motive for why they believe he targeted Pitt and the federal facilities.
According to the six-page judgment by Sheriff Frank Richard Crowe, Busby “has had significant cognitive impairment probably relating to his [multiple sclerosis] which although not particularly progressive did impair his functioning to a significant level. [Busby] was unfit for trial in 2015 and this remains the case now.
“[Busby’s] multiple sclerosis is at an advanced stage and he has required nursing home care since 2012; he is not fit to travel to the United States of America nor is he fit to engage in a criminal trial.”
In response, Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song said, “We are analyzing the opinion and the legal issues presented, and are considering our options.”
A federal grand jury here indicted Busby on 20 counts of wire fraud, 16 counts of maliciously conveying false information, two counts of international extortion and one count of threatening a federal officer. All are felonies with maximum penalties ranging from 20 years in prison for wire fraud to two years in prison for international extortion.
The bomb threats involving Pitt were mostly emailed to Pittsburgh media outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sent between March 30 and April 21, 2012, they caused 136 evacuations of Pitt buildings, including dormitories at all hours, disrupting the rhythms of college life.
The incidents stopped only when the university rescinded a $50,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest and prosecution of whoever was responsible. An email to the Pitt news signed by "The Threateners" took responsibility for the threats and reiterated an earlier demand that Pitt withdraw the reward.
Investigators were initially hamstrung by the use of technology in the threats. Most were emailed to news media using anonymous remailers in European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden that require little technical knowledge to utilize but make it virtually impossible to trace, according to cybersecurity specialists.
Busby was a leader of the Scottish National Liberation Army, which seeks independence for his homeland. He has used different methods, but his aim has long been the same — to send a message to British leaders that his native Scotland deserves independence.
Shortly before he was indicted by a federal grand jury here, he was released from prison on a 2010 conviction in Ireland for emailing two bomb threats in 2006 to Heathrow Airport in London. Those threats, which cited specific international flights, claimed to be from the Scottish National Liberation Army, according to The Irish Times.
In July 2012, he was taken into custody in Dublin on a European Union warrant seeking his extradition to Scotland for additional charges of sending threats, according to Irish media outlets. He is charged with making hoax threats in 2010, mostly by email to media organizations, that threatened then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a noxious substance, and claimed buildings would be bombed and that the English water supply would be contaminated, Irish news media reported. He was extradited to Scotland in February 2015.
In 1997 he was convicted of making threatening phone calls to the Press Association in Scotland and the Scottish Daily Record. He was sentenced to two years on each count, according to The Irish Times.
The SNLA was made illegal in Ireland in 2005; the organization has been responsible for bombs, letter bombs and anthrax threats over the years, according to the Times.
Michael A. Fuoco: mfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1968. Twitter: @michaelafuoco
First Published: November 8, 2017, 11:00 p.m.
