The group's activities primarily involved sending letter bombs to UK government officials, carrying out arson attacks, and making numerous hoax threats of violence,[2] before declaring a ceasefire in 2012, to allow debates leading up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum to take place.
[17] In 1983, the group reportedly carried out 27 attacks, which primarily involved sending letter bombs to public figures including Diana, Princess of Wales, and Margaret Thatcher.
[4][5] The device sent to Thatcher was posted to a hotel located in North London, where a Conservative Party Conference was due to take place, and was discovered and opened by parliamentarian Robert Key, but there was no explosion.
[18][19][20] The letter ignited after being opened by Kelly's secretary, Eric Hamilton, who at the time was in his office interviewing a woman who was set to take part in a welcome event for the arrival of HMS Glasgow to the city the following day.
[20] In June, the group claimed another letter bomb posted to the Conservative Central Office, which was addressed to then-Conservative Party chairman Cecil Parkinson, which partially ignited after being opened by his secretary, who was unharmed.
"[23] In response to the incident, Commander William Hucklesby, the then-head of Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch subsequently issued a warning to mail workers to be vigilant of any suspicious packages.
[34] Also in 1983, the group claimed to have planted a plastic explosive under the stage in Perth City Hall, allegedly intending to assassinate Thatcher, who was scheduled to attend a Conservative party conference being held in the building, and launch a renewed campaign for the upcoming general election.
"[3][38] In January 1984, group member Thomas Kelly was jailed for ten years after pleading guilty to making and delivering explosive packages; one such device, which was again addressed to Tebbit, was recovered from a post box in Ingram Street, Glasgow.
[39] Kelly's arrest and conviction were brought about after an undercover Special Branch agent volunteered to inform the police on the SNLA's activies, fearing that the Scottish nationalist movement would turn violent.
[42][43][8] The attack was carried out by planting a miniature device in an empty fifth-floor sub basement inside the building; the fire lasted for more than six hours and caused serious structural damage, estimated at £700,000.
[49] Two days later on 24 April, the group phoned the Press Association following a bombing that occurred at a British Airways office in Oxford Street, London, claiming responsibility for the attack.
[50][51][52] The caller provided detailed information on how the bomb was constructed, and clarified that British Airways was targeted in response to an attempt by the UK government to completely privatize the company, which the group believed would result in significant job losses, along with total withdrawal of airline services in remote areas of Scotland.
[58][59][60] The group claimed to have broken into the grounds of the palace armed with 11lbs of explosives on the night of 27 June, where Anne, Princess Royal was sleeping, with the Queen due to arrive the following day.
[58][60] The claims to the Sunday Mail also contained an interview with Busby, who didn't personally take part in the operation, in which he reportedly stated: "The well-planned and audacious assault on Holyrood Palace failed only because of sheer bad luck.
[61][62][63] The High Court in Aberdeen heard that McIntosh had orchestrated a three-month campaign of fear tactics, which involved placing hoax explosives outside Aberdeen-based oil industry buildings and mailing genuine letter bombs to Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness, the headquarters of Anglian Water in Huntingdon, and the Scottish Office in Edinburgh.
[72][73] The group also claimed to have developed a new type of letter bomb that was designed evade detection systems and detonate inside aircraft cargo units upon reaching a certain height.
[74] Webber had previously made a claim to Scottish Sun journalist Alan Muir that the group "wanted Scotland to be free, to be a nation on its own, without the shackles of England and without the English being here, having our jobs".
[77] In May 1999, another Dublin-based organisation member, Hugh Smith McMahon, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence for making a hoax telephone claim that he had planted an explosive device on the Kessock Bridge in Inverness.
[78] In July 1999, Busby was rearrested after being linked to a blackmail plot to commit mass murder by contaminating English and Welsh water supplies with weedkiller unless British troops were withdrawn from Northern Ireland.
[69][79][80] The arrest was made after a month-long joint investigation was carried out by Scotland Yard and the Gardaí after letters were sent to senior figures, including then-prime minister Tony Blair, demanding a "total British military and political withdrawal" from Northern Ireland by June 16, followed by threats of retaliation without warning if the deadline was not met.
[81] A spokesman for the Scottish Separatist Group (SSG), who denied involvement in the e-mail attack, claimed that the Northern Constabulary was allegedly targeted due to significant employment of English police officers, along with the SNLA's dissatisfaction with the force's handling of past investigations.
"[64] In addition, it was reported that Adam Busby may be targeted for extradition to the United States to face terror charges, following a series of e-mails to the country about how to contaminate US water supplies.
[64] In January 2008, two men, Wayne Cook and Steven Robinson were convicted in Manchester of sending miniature bottles of vodka contaminated with caustic soda to various public figures, which included Blackburn with Darwen councillor John Wright, and Scottish Daily Express journalist Myra Philp, and threatening to kill English people "at random and with no discrimination or compunction" by poisoning English water supplies, echoing a previous threat made in 2006.
[87] In June 2009, Adam Busby Jr. was reincarcerated for six years for sending a total of six packages containing shotgun cartridges accompanied by notes bearing threats of violence to various political figures, including First Minister Alex Salmond, Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles, the Scottish National Party (SNP) headquarters, and Glasgow City Council.
[1] The statement said: In order to facilitate the democratic process currently taking place in Scotland, the Scottish National Liberation Army, after 30 years of armed struggle is declaring a ceasefire.
[1]Following his 2010 conviction, Adam Busby was released from jail on 21 March 2014, and was reported at the time to be living in a Dublin hostel, banned from internet access, and was awaiting verdicts about possible extradition to Scotland and the US.
[2][64] The SSG was formed in 1995 by breakaway members and supporters of the SNLA and shared the same ideology, with an emphasis on reversing English immigration into Scotland and promoting Scottish Gaelic as the country's national language.
[64][2] In 1999, the SSG issued a letter to the The Press and Journal threatening to intensify their protests against English immigration, with a particular focus on demonstrating against the Royal family, who were due to attend upcoming events in Aberdeen.
[94][96] The SSG was also discovered to have established links with the alleged political wing of the Real IRA, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM), where it was reportedly exchanging information on the upcoming Royal visit to Inverness.
[3][5] Author Andrew Murray Scott, who co-wrote Britain's Secret War, in which the group's activities are examined,[98] stated in a 1993 interview with The Herald following McIntosh's imprisonment: "I believe the SNLA effectively finished in 1984 as an organisation and now it is only one or two people.