A VALE woman has admitted making two Molotov cocktails as part of a plan to blow up her Alexandria home.

Kelsey Willis made the two bottle bombs out of two beer bottles, methylated spirits and tissues at her flat in King Edward Street in October.

The 29-year-old told a neighbour “I’ll go down for 20 years” – and when the neighbour asked if Willis was planning to “blow this place up”, Willis replied: “Don’t worry, I’ll chap your window on the way out to the street.”

Details of the chilling conversation emerged after Willis appeared in court to plead guilty to an offence under the Explosive Substances Act of 1883.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week, Willis admitted having “incendiary devices in your possession for an unlawful object, namely to cause explosions and fires” at the property on the evening of October 12 last year.

Kevin Doherty, prosecuting, said Willis had gestured at the neighbour to enter the flat, and that the neighbour had seen two glass bottles, with purple liquid inside and white materials stuffed into the neck, “giving the appearance of a ‘bottle bomb”.

The neighbour also saw a large kitchen knife, a hammer, a pack of cable ties, a box of plastic overshoes, and a pack of latex gloves in the room.

Mr Doherty said the neighbour had asked Willis if she was OK, and tried to get Willis to contact police.

“The accused replied ‘no, if anyone is coming through that door they’re not coming out again’,” Mr Doherty said.

“The accused said ‘I’ll go down for 20 years’.

“The accused talked about the knife and said ‘check how sharp that knife is, that’ll do the damage’, and ran the knife down the neighbour’s forearm.

“The accused said she had tested out one of the bottle bombs, admitting that it had caught fire earlier that evening.”

The neighbour left the flat and called police before alerting two other neighbours and Willis’s father – who, the court heard, also dialled 999 to report his concern for his daughter’s mental health.

“Police attended and were allowed entry by the accused, who was extremely hostile,” Mr Doherty continued.

“Police saw two Molotov cocktails, a small bottle, a threequarter bottle of what appeared to be methylated spirits, and saw a kitchen knife and hammer on a footstool.”

Willis was arrested and taken to Clydebank police station, where she became abusive on being told her usual solicitor would not be able to attend an interview.

Mr Doherty added: “The two bottles and other items were later forensically examined; scientists believed the two Corona bottles both constituted an incendiary device.”

Willis originally faced two other charges relating to the same incident – one of threatening or abusive behaviour, and one of assaulting the neighbour by striking her on the body with the knife.

But pleas of not guilty to both those allegations were accepted by the Crown.

Willis was brought into the dock in handcuffs – the result, the court heard, of having had a community payback order for a previous offence revoked, and a prison sentence imposed in its place.

Stephen McGuire, defending, said: “She was concerned about how she was feeling mentally.

“She was suffering from paranoia, and other issues in the background, causing her to feel concern for her own safety and that of others close to her.

“She feels better within herself following her period in custody. But she is under no illusions about the serious nature of the offence she has admitted today.”

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry deferred sentence for reports; Willis, currently an inmate at HMP Edinburgh, will return to court on February 11.