A man who plotted to kill a prosecutor on the dark web while identifying as “evil Jesus” has had his sentencing postponed again due to confusion over whether a hospital bed is available, a court heard.
Martin Ready, 42, was found guilty of attempted conspiracy to murder Darren Harty, 37, by using cryptocurrency to pay for a hitman on the dark web.
Between May 2021 and September 2022, Ready paid £5,071.24 in Bitcoin and sent instructions for Mr Harty to be shot to a dark web site called Online Killers Market, which transpired to be a scam.
During the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Ready claimed he suffered from delusions that he was “evil Jesus” and believed the murder would expose organised crime in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, where both men were from.
The men knew each other from a pub owned by Mr Harty’s family in Coatbridge, the court heard.
Ready denied the charge and lodged a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility, but this was rejected by the jury.
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