# Adam Busby
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{{Short description|Scottish political activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use Irish English|date=May 2024}}
{{other uses|OutDaughtered}}
'''Adam Stuart Busby''' (born 1948) is a [Scottish nationalist](/source/Scottish_independence) who claims to be the founder of the [Scottish National Liberation Army](/source/Scottish_National_Liberation_Army).[{{Cite news |date=31 July 2013 |title=Scottish separatist group leader Adam Busby to be extradited |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-23514236 |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=BBC News}}] In 1983 after a hoax letter-bombing campaign against high-profile public figures he organised attacks from Dublin involving [anthrax hoax](/source/anthrax_hoax)es, bomb threats, and genuine parcel bombs.[ In 1997 he was jailed in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) for two hoax phone threats against Scottish media organisations.][
==Early life==
Busby was associated with the separatist group called the ''Scottish National Liberation Army''. He joined the British army and trained briefly in the [Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders](/source/Argyll_and_Sutherland_Highlanders).][{{Cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1850234.stm | work=BBC News | title=Who are the 'tartan terrorists'? | date=2 March 2002 | access-date=2010-04-23}}][{{Cite book |last=Leslie |first=David |url=https://www.electricscotland.com/books/snla.htm |title=Inside a Terrorist Group: The Story of the SNLA |year=2006 |chapter=Chapter Five - Adam Busby - The SNLA Ideologue |oclc=71807509}}]
==Career==
In 1983 letter bombs were sent to the [Ministry of Defence](/source/Ministry_of_Defence_(United_Kingdom)), oil companies and public figures including [Lady Diana Spencer](/source/Diana%2C_Princess_of_Wales) and the [prime minister](/source/prime_minister), [Margaret Thatcher](/source/Margaret_Thatcher). The device sent to Thatcher was active and was opened by parliamentarian [Robert Key](/source/Robert_Key_(politician)) but there was no explosion. Busby fled to [Dublin](/source/Dublin) after the letter-bombing campaign.[
In 1997, Busby was jailed in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) for two hoax phone threats against Scottish media organisations.][
In 1999, he then reportedly formed the short lived '''Republican Revenge Group (RRG)''',][{{Cite news |last=Lavery |first=Charles |date=July 11, 1999 |title=WE'LL POISON YOUR WATER! Police Seize Scots Terror Boss Over Deadly Plot |url=https://electricscotland.com/books/snla.htm |work=Sunday Mail}}] a proposed [Pan-Celtic](/source/Pan-Celticism) militant organisation.[{{Cite news |last=Hancock |first=Louise |date=July 12, 1999 |title=POLICE GRILL TERROR PLOT TERROR SCOT Water Blackmail Plan Is Foiled |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/POLICE+GRILL+POISON+PLOT+TERROR+SCOT%3B+Water+blackmail+plan+is+foiled.-a060440770 |work=The Mirror}}] He was questioned by the [gardaí](/source/Garda_S%C3%ADoch%C3%A1na) in Dublin later that year regarding an RRG [blackmail](/source/blackmail) plot, threatening to contaminate English and Welsh water supplies with [weedkiller](/source/Herbicide) unless then-Prime Minister [Tony Blair](/source/Tony_Blair) withdrew from [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland).[{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jamie |last2=Norton-Taylor |first2=Richard |date=12 Jul 1999 |title=Man held over poison plot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jul/12/ireland |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=The Guardian}}][{{Cite news |last=Bushe |first=Andrew |date=February 16, 2011 |orig-date=July 1999 |title=Man held in bizarre plot to poison British water |url=https://group.irishecho.com/2011/02/man-held-in-bizarre-plot-to-poison-british-water-2/ |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Irish Echo}}]
In May 2006 he sent threats by email from [Charleville Mall public library](/source/Dublin_City_Libraries) to [BAA](/source/BAA_Limited) at [London Heathrow Airport](/source/London_Heathrow_Airport) claiming bombs were on two New York flights.[{{Cite news |date=23 July 2010 |title=Man sentenced over hoax threats |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-sentenced-over-hoax-threats-1.861497 |accessdate=23 July 2010 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}] BAA did not take the threats seriously. Busby denied making the threats.
In September 2006, the ''[Sunday Times](/source/Sunday_Times)'' reported that Busby might be targeted for extradition to the United States to face terror charges. Police in Ireland were said to have agreed to help the [FBI](/source/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation), [MI5](/source/MI5) and [Special Branch](/source/Special_Branch_(Metropolitan_Police)) to investigate a series of e-mails to the US about how to contaminate US water supplies. They also reported that an email, believed to have been sent from Canada, contained a warning to their Glasgow office threatening to poison water supplies in England.[{{Cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/scotland/article634523.ece | work=The Times | location=London | title=SNLA threat to poison water supply | date=10 September 2006 | accessdate=2010-04-23 | first1=Mark | last1=MacAskill | first2=Jason | last2=Allardyce| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311011631/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/scotland/article634523.ece | archive-date=11 March 2007 }}]
In July 2010 he was sentenced by a Dublin court to four years in jail for the May 2006 threats by email to [BAA](/source/BAA_Limited) at [London Heathrow Airport](/source/London_Heathrow_Airport) claiming bombs were on two New York flights. Two of the years were suspended due to his age and health, as he has [multiple sclerosis](/source/multiple_sclerosis) and uses a wheelchair.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/23/scottish-nationalist-terror-bomb-hoax-court|title=Scottish separatist Adam Busby jailed for Heathrow bomb hoaxes|last=Carrell|first=Severin|date=23 July 2010|work=The Guardian|accessdate=23 July 2010 | location=London}}]
In 2010, Busby was alleged to have made threats against then-[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom](/source/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom) [Gordon Brown](/source/Gordon_Brown).[{{Cite news |date=1 Apr 2014 |title=Brown threat accused leaves prison |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/brown-threat-accused-leaves-prison/30145852.html |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=[Belfast Telegraph](/source/Belfast_Telegraph) |issn=0307-5664}}]
On 15 August 2012, a United States federal [grand jury](/source/grand_jury) returned two indictments charging Busby, a resident of [Ballymun](/source/Ballymun), [Dublin](/source/Dublin), [Ireland](/source/Ireland),[ with [emailing bomb threats](/source/2012_University_of_Pittsburgh_bomb_threats) targeting the [University of Pittsburgh](/source/University_of_Pittsburgh), three federal courthouses and a federal officer. A separate four-count indictment charged Mr Busby with, on 20 and 21 June, maliciously conveying false information through the Internet claiming bombs had been placed at federal courthouses in [Pittsburgh](/source/Pittsburgh), [Erie](/source/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania), and [Johnstown](/source/Johnstown%2C_Pennsylvania) in [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania).][{{Cite news |date=15 August 2012 |title=Ireland Man Charged In Pitt Bomb Threat Case |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/significant-development-coming-in-pitt-bomb-threat-investigation/ |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=CBS Pittsburgh |via=CBS News}}][{{Cite news |last=Gurman |first=Sadie |last2=Fuoco |first2=Michael A. |last3=Schackner |first3=Bill |date=15 August 2012 |title=Man from Ireland charged in Pitt bomb threat case |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/investigators-to-announce-significant-developments-in-pitt-bomb-threat-case-649066/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011090628/http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/investigators-to-announce-significant-developments-in-pitt-bomb-threat-case-649066/ |archive-date=11 October 2012 |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}]
Busby was released from an Irish prison on 21 March 2014 and was reported to be living in a Dublin hostel, banned from internet access, awaiting verdicts about his extradition to Scotland and the US.[{{Cite news |date=1 April 2014 |title=U. of Pitt. bomb threat suspect freed from jail in Ireland |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-pittsburgh-bomb-threat-suspect-released-from-jail-in-ireland/ |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=CBS News |location=Pittsburgh}}][{{Cite news |last=Lord |first=Rich |date=1 April 2014 |title=Accused emailer of bomb threats to Pitt released from jail in Ireland |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/04/01/Accused-e-mailer-of-bomb-threats-to-Pitt-released-from-jail-in-Ireland/stories/201404010178 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021125149/https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/04/01/Accused-e-mailer-of-bomb-threats-to-Pitt-released-from-jail-in-Ireland/stories/201404010178 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}]
In February 2015, Busby was extradited to Scotland.[{{Cite news |last=Fuoco |first=Michael A. |date=8 November 2017 |title=Scottish man charged in 2012 Pitt bomb threats avoids extradition |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/11/08/Scottish-Adam-Busby-2012-Pitt-bomb-threats-avoids-extradition-university-pittsburgh-pitt-emails/stories/201711080163 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240802224518/https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/11/08/Scottish-Adam-Busby-2012-Pitt-bomb-threats-avoids-extradition-university-pittsburgh-pitt-emails/stories/201711080163 |archive-date=2 August 2024 |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}] In October of that year, however, a [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow) court ruled that he was medically unfit to be tried over multiple bomb threats.[{{Cite news |last=Carrell |first=Severin |date=15 October 2015 |title=Scottish separatist leader not fit to stand trial on terror charges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/15/scottish-separatist-leader-adam-busby-not-fit-to-stand-trial-on-terror-charges |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}] In 2017, the Sheriff Court of Lothian and Borders in Edinburgh ruled that Busby, by then 69, was too ill to be sent to the US, as his [multiple sclerosis](/source/multiple_sclerosis) was at an advanced stage.