Former lawyer guilty of murder plot to remain in secure unit

A former lawyer who plotted to kill a prosecutor is to remain in a secure mental health facility.

Martin Ready, 42, was found guilty of attempting to conspire to murder Darren Harty by using cryptocurrency to pay for a hitman on the dark web following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow last year.

He accessed a website called the "Online Killers Market" in an bid to have the procurator fiscal killed in a "gangland-style execution".

Judge Lady Hood continued the interim compulsion order for a further 12 weeks, and adjourned the case until July.

The trial heard how Ready 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.

He claimed the bar run by Mr Harty's family in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, was being used to launder money for criminals.

Ready said killing Mr Harty would have "shone a light" on criminal activity in the town.

The victim has strongly denied any suggestion that he was involved in money laundering for two named crime families.

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

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

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

Ready denied the charge and lodged a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility, but was convicted and remanded in custody at HMP Barlinnie.

In February, judge Lady Hood issued an interim compulsion order requiring him to be moved to the Rowanbank Clinic medium secure unit in Glasgow.

He was scheduled to be sentenced in May 2025.

Psychiatrists had prepared a report on Ready for the latest hearing, but a further 12 week order was requested by Brian McConnachie KC to further assess him.

The case was adjourned until July at the High Court in Edinburgh by Judge Lady Hood.

She said: "It seems this is the most appropriate course to take.

"In all the circumstances, having considered the report, I will continue the interim compulsion order."