Former lawyer convicted over vigilante dark web execution plot

A former lawyer using the name of a fictional vigilante has been convicted of attempting to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill a prosecutor.

Martin Ready accessed a website called the “Online Killers Market” in an bid to have procurator fiscal Darren Harty killed in a “gangland-style execution”.

Ready, 41, used the alias “Harry Brown” to pay for the murder, which he claimed was during a delusional period where he believed he was an “evil Jesus” figure.

But a jury dismissed his claims that he lacked criminal responsibility and found him guilty of attempted conspiracy to murder.

Ready, a former commercial contracts solicitor, had claimed the bar run by Mr Harty’s family in Coatbridge was being used to launder money for criminals.

He said killing Mr Harty, 37, would have “shone a light” on criminal activity in the town.

Ready, who gave up his legal career in 2019 over fears for his safety, transferred 0.2913 Bitcoin - valued at £5,071 – to the administrator of the website and gave a graphic description of how the killing was to be carried out.

The name Harry Brown he used was the same name as the main character in the 2009 Michael Caine film, who took the law into his own hands after his only friend was murdered.

The court heard how it later emerged that the website – only accessible via the dark web – was a front for a lucrative scam.

The offences were carried out between May 2021 and September 2022.

Ready was arrested after a journalist investigating the highly encrypted online network contacted police.

He said his mother, a social worker, had been blackmailed for information by criminals in North Lanarkshire.

He also claimed he had been targeted by an attempted abduction and “insect infestation” at his home.

Ready alleged it was an “open secret” the Harty’s bar was being used to launder dirty money.

He said he had “no ill feeling towards Mr Harty on a personal level,” but saw it at the time as a “mission”.

Ready said he had been mentally ill and spent time on a psychiatric ward, believing himself to be an “evil Jesus”.

He said if the killing had taken place, he would have “followed up” by getting a more senior member of the crime gang to “confess” to other offences.

Mr Harty, who gave evidence from behind a screen during the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, only heard about the murder bid while on a night out in September 2022.

He said he was “stunned and shocked” and strongly denied any suggestion that he was involved in money laundering for two named crime families.

Mr Harty added that he was "completely bewildered with the idea".

Lady Hood remanded Ready in custody and adjourned the case for reports until 24 October in Edinburgh.

Det Sgt Karen Murray of Coatbridge CID said: "Ready believed that by using cryptocurrency and the dark web that his offences would go undetected, but this was not the case.

"Our specialist cybercrime officers followed the movement of funds and traced the crimes back to Ready, highlighting Police Scotland's capability and commitment to uncovering online criminal activity."