Man allegedly paid hitman £5k to kill Scottish lawyer
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A former prosecutor in Aberdeen was “stunned” to learn that a customer of his family’s pub had planned to have him assassinated, a trial has heard.
Darren Harty, 37, gave evidence at the trial of Martin Ready, 41, at the High Court in Glasgow.
Mr Ready is charged with attempting to conspire to murder Mr Harty with help from others on the dark web.
The plan is alleged to have occurred between May 29, 2021 and September 15, 2022 in North Lanarkshire.
A joint minute of agreed evidence details that Mr Ready accessed a site called Online Killers Market. The administrator of the site received 0.2913 Bitcoin, valued at £5,071, “as payment”.
Mr Ready pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempting to conspire with others to murder Mr Harty and lodged the special defence of lacking criminal responsibility.
The court heard that Mr Harty knew Mr Ready as a customer at his family’s pub in Coatbridge but that the two were not friends. Mr Harty said he was “stunned” when police told him of the alleged plot.
The trial continues before Lady Hood.
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