‘A twisted mind’: Fife pensioner who threatened to kill Theresa May sent to prison.

A Fife pensioner who threatened to kill Prime Minister Theresa May and caused a number of bomb scares at high profile points across the country has been jailed for 45 months.

Isabella Jackson, 73, admitted a series of offences which included the threat to Mrs May, who had been Home Secretary at the time; sparking bomb hoaxes to Edinburgh Airport, Harrods department store and King’s Cross train station in London; and sending white powder to Levenmouth Police Station.

She also maliciously told Fife Council that a fellow resident at her care home had died, when that was not the case.

The wheelchair-bound convict has previously served time in prison for sending email threats to the US Embassy in London claiming there was a bomb on a plane and that former US president Barack Obama was to be killed.

Sentencing Jackson at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Sheriff Grant McCulloch said he was satisfied that her behaviour merited a further custodial sentence.

“You’ve accepted your guilt for four offences, each of which is significant and caused major inconvenience, fear and alarm,” he said. “Your actions have deprived the public of police and other emergency services, with the potential of allowing real terrorists to go about their evil business.

“It is a deliberate act of a twisted mind, quite content to cause the utmost disruption from the comfort of your own sofa.”

The Crown has also applied for a serious crime prevention order which – among other things - would restrict Jackson’s internet use and see her subject to police monitoring, although that will be decided upon at a future hearing after Sheriff McCulloch suggested that some of conditions contained in the order were “not reasonable”.

Jackson showed little emotion as she was sentenced.

It is extrememly rare for a disabled woman in her 70s to receive a jail term. However, when it comes to the bewildering case of Isabella Jackson it is surely fair to say there was no viable alternative.

The wheelchair-bound pensioner made a number of bomb threats, with Theresa May and Barack Obama among her targets.

She also suggested venues such as King’s Cross railway station and Edinburgh Airport were at risk.

It is a truly remarkable category of malicious behaviour, which must have caused considerable distress.

As the sheriff pointed out, the accused is “no stranger” to such “twisted” behaviour, having committed similar offences in the past.

Quite what has been going through the pensioner’s mind may never be known and one cannot help but fear that even a spell behind bars will not address her offending behaviour. Yet the court was surely left with no choice. Of course tensions are heightened given events in Manchester, but the kind of offence perpetrated by Ms Jackson is utterly unacceptable, no matter if it is carried out by a foolish attention-seeking teenager or a pensioner who should know better.

The upshot, either way, is the same and it is vital that a strong message be sent out.

Isabella Jackson.