Celtic manager Neil Lennon was the target of bomb plot (Reuters)
Celtic manager Neil Lennon was the target of bomb plot (Reuters)

The trial of two men accused of plotting to kill Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other high-profile supporters of the club has begun in Glasgow.

Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, are accused of conspiring to assault and kill Celtic manager Lennon, former MSP Trish Godman and lawyer Paul McBride QC and others.

The court heard that a package containing nails and the highly explosive substance triacetone triperoxide was sent to Lennon at Celtic's training centre in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire .

The pair are accused of sending similar devices to Godman at an address in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, and to the Glasgow offices of Cairde Na Heireann, an Irish Republican supporters group.

The pair face an alternative charge that they conspired to cause an explosion "likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property".

It is also alleged that they bought nails, envelopes, travel bottles and digital sports watches at two shops in Stevenston, Ayrshire, and induced another man to buy cream peroxide, another bomb-making ingredient.

Muirhead,from Kilwinning in Ayrshire, and McKenzie, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, both deny all charges. The offences were said to have taken place between March and May 2011.