Motherwell bomb threat man convicted

Peter Conoboy, (48) pleaded guilty via video link to the offence at the High Court in Glasgow last Wednesday (July 8).

He is due to be sentenced next month.

His actions – on the day of the General Election – sparked a mass evacuation in the middle of the night and closed a polling station which had been set up within the building by electoral staff at North Lanarkshire Council.

Police were called to Glen Tower around 1 am on Thursday, December 12, 2019, following reports that a suspicious device had been found on the ground floor.

Officers placed a cordon around the building and evacuated residents before a controlled explosion was carried out for safety’s sake.

The device was later found to be non-viable.

The polling station was not re-opened and residents had to cast their vote at Knowetop Primary instead.

Superintendent Andy Edwards of Lanarkshire police division, said: “The placing of this device was a deliberate attempt to cause panic and disruption to both the residents of Glen Tower, who had to be evacuated in the middle of the night, and the wider community on what was the date of the General Election when this incident meant their polling station had to be moved.

“Last week’s guilty plea and conviction is a clear message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in our community.

“Police Scotland takes every report of suspicious packages seriously.

“Any incident will be dealt with safely and robustly investigated.”

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