A former lawyer convicted of a dark web murder plot to kill a Scots prosecutor has been ordered to be kept in hospital for treatment.
gunned down in a “gangland-style execution”.
Martin Ready targeted Darren Harty and planned to have him gunned down in a “gangland-style execution”.
The 43 year-old referred to himself as “evil Jesus” and also used the alias Harry Brown – the same name as the main character in the 2009 Michael Caine film, who took it upon himself to get revenge for his only friend being murdered.
The ex-commercial contracts solicitor had gone to a site called Online Killers Market to try and organise the hit on the Glasgow procurator fiscal.
Ready told jurors he effectively turned vigilante to try and wipe out crime from his hometown of Coatbridge in Lanarkshire.
He alleged Mr Harty’s family ran a bar which was used by criminals to launder dirty money.
The murder would have then “shone a light” and sparked a police probe into other alleged dodgy dealings.
Ready was convicted of an attempted conspiracy to murder 38 year-old Mr Harty following a trial in August 2024.
He had lodged a special defence that he lacked criminal responsibility for the offence as he was delusional at the time.
The case had since been repeatedly adjourned for further psychiatric assessments and medical treatment to be carried out on Ready.
He was today back at the High Court in Glasgow having been brought from the city’s Rowanbank Clinic.
After reading two reports from medics who have dealt with Ready and hearing evidence from one, Lady Hood imposed compulsion and restriction orders on the ex-lawyer.
He will remain at Rowanbank without limit of time to continue to receive treatment for his delusional disorder. The judge said the information she had was that if this did not happen there would be a “significant risk” to both himself and others.
Ready had also shown “limited insight” to what happened and there had been “past disengagement” with his treatment. Lady Hood: “The offence was very serious – it involved a considerable degree of planning on your part, accessing the dark web and a site that you believed would carry out the murder.
“Your beliefs drove your offending and you continue to hold such beliefs despite the treatment to date.” Ready is also banned from contacting or going near Mr Harty for an indefinite period.
The trial heard how Ready had gone on to the website, which ultimately turned out to be a front for a lucrative scam.
A total of 0.2913 Bitcoin – valued at £5,071 – was transferred to the administrator of Online Killers Market as “payment” for the “assassination” of Mr Harty.
The charge spanned between May 29 2021 and September 15 2022 at an address in Lanarkshire. The trial heard graphic messages of what Ready wanted done to the fiscal. Mr Harty was to be tracked from the pub at night in an area with no CCTV or potential witnesses.
One stated: “Fire two rounds into target’s forehead in an execution style.”
Mr Harty was also to be blasted Liu in the mouth and the bottom.
He had also downloaded a photo of his target from the internet.
In court, Ready said: “I wanted to make it look like a gangland execution.”
Mr Harty – who gave evidence from behind screens – told jurors he was familiar with Ready from coming into his family’s bar in Coatbridge.
The fiscal said he only became aware of a police probe into a murder plot in September 2022 when he was on a night out. Asked by advocate depute Erin Campbell why he could have been the target, he replied: “None whatsoever.”
Miss Campbell then put to him: “How did you feel?”
Mr Harty: “Stunned, shocked. It was not something I was expecting. I was completely bewildered with the idea.” The fiscal also strongly denied any suggestion that he was involved in money laundering for two named crime families.
Ready was arrested after his kill-plan was uncovered when a journalist doing an investigation on the dark web contacted police. He also gave evidence during the trial. Ready said he gave up his legal job around 2019 amid fears for his safety.
He claimed to have spoken out about his social worker mum being blackmailed for information by local criminals. His older brother was also said to be involved.
Ready stated, as a result, he was then targeted himself including an attempted abduction and an “insect infestation” at his home. Ready went on to claim it was an “open secret” that the Harty family business was being used by the same underworld figures to launder money.
Questioned by his KC Brian McConnachie why Mr Harty had been targeted, he stated he had “no ill feeing towards him on a personal level”. Ready alleged if the killing had been carried out, it would have “shone on a light on criminal activities”.
Mr McConnachie: “If Mr Harty’s death had happened, that would have brought about an inquiry into other matters involving serious organised crime?”
Ready: “That is correct.”
Ready claimed if “the assassination” had occurred, he would have “followed up” by getting a more senior member of the crime gang to “confess” to other offences.
But, Ready told the trial he was mentally ill at the time which included him being on a “mission” as “evil Jesus”. He had also spent time in a psychiatric ward.
In his closing speech, Mr McConnachie said prosecutors were seeming to suggest Ready “was making up the Jesus thing” and “manipulating the system”.
The court today heard from a medic at Rowanbank who stated there was a “real risk” of Ready not complying with his medication if he were instead sentenced to prison.
Reports are sourced from official documents, law-enforcement updates, and credible investigations.
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