A man accused of plotting to kill a lawyer has claimed he was suffering from delusions and believed he was "evil Jesus" exposing organised crime, a court has heard.
Martin Ready, 41, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, where he denies charges of conspiring to murder Darren Harty, 37, between May 2021 and September 2022.
Ready is alleged to have paid over £5,000 via cryptocurrency accounts on the dark web to arrange for Harty to be shot. The two men were acquainted through a pub in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, owned by Harty's family.
The court heard that Ready had been treated in a psychiatric ward in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, for three weeks following an alleged abduction attempt in 2020. He claimed that during this period, he began experiencing delusions, first thinking he was Jesus and later believing he was "evil Jesus" by January 2022.
Ready has entered a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility, citing his delusions as the reason for his actions. "At the time, I genuinely believed I was Jesus and that the actions I took were to expose the criminality I had been subjected to," he told the court.
Ready alleged the pub was a front for “washing money” and claimed to have been “jagged” with a GPS tracker by his brother. An X-ray of his right arm found no evidence of such a device, the court heard.
Defense lawyer Brian McConnachie KC questioned Ready about his motivations, asking, "From your point of view, what would that achieve?" Ready responded, "I felt that if Darren had been killed, it would turn on his links to organised crime."
Messages shared with the court from October 2021 showed Ready telling a friend he was experiencing "stigmata", and wrote: "My back is louping now from carrying the cross."
Another message sent on Christmas Day 2021 read: "Merry Christmas from Jesus - the actual Jesus."
Another message said: "I am evil Jesus and you are Mary Magdalene."
Prosecutor Erin Campbell suggested Ready’s belief that he was Jesus was merely a "running joke." She argued that his actions to conceal his identity, arrange a third party, and consider alibis indicated that he was fully aware of the illegality of his actions.
The trial is ongoing.
