The sentencing of a man who plotted to kill a prosecutor while claiming to be suffering from delusions that he was “evil Jesus” has been postponed.
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 during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow last year.
Between May 2021 and September 2022, Ready paid £5,071.24 in Bitcoin and sent instructions for Mr Harty to be shot on a dark website called Online Killers Market, which turned out to be fraudulent.
During the trial, Ready told the court he had suffered from delusions that he was “evil Jesus” and believed the murder of Mr Harty would expose organised crime in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, where Mr Harty’s family owned a pub.
The men knew each other from the pub, but the court heard they had not seen each other for years before the plot.
Ready denied the charge and lodged a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility, but was convicted and remanded in custody at HMP Barlinnie, however, a bed is being sought in a medium secure unit.
On Tuesday, sentencing was postponed at the High Court in Edinburgh, due to lack of availability at the Rowanbank Clinic medium secure unit in Glasgow.
Ready was not at the hearing, which was postponed for two weeks.
Defending, Richard Goddard KC said: “I would invite the court to deal with this in his absence. I gather (the) case was continued to whether bed was available. Unfortunately, it would appear that Rowanbank has not confirmed if a bed was available.”
Judge Lady Hood said: “In unfortunate circumstances there’s been some sort of mix-up. He’s neither available virtually or in-person.
“I think it’s appropriate to deal with it in his absence. We have the requisite reports indicating clearly that the appropriate way of proceeding in the doctor’s view is (an) interim compulsion order.
“All we await is that a bed will be available in a short timescale.”
She said that a doctor from Rowanbank had “attended Barlinnie to speak with Mr Ready directly” but had not been asked to produce a report.
Lady Hood added: “One of the doctors had indicated there was a difference of clinical opinion. There seems to be a difference in clinical opinion (with the doctor who attended Barlinnie).
“My own opinion would be that the court didn’t require a report.
“If a bed is not available at Rowanbank what we need to know is if there is another medium secure unit which has a bed available.”
Sentencing was postponed until February 11 at the High Court in Kilmarnock.
