A retired GP tried to arrange the murder of his financial advisor on the dark web, where he ordered Chechen Mob hitmen to “kill the bastard”, a court has heard.
David Crichton, from Bournemouth, held a vendetta against Andrew Bolden after losing £300,000 from his £1.8m pension, The Guardian reports.
Prosecutor Simon Jones said: “Dr Crichton delayed some aspects of his [Bolden’s] advice, he missed certain deadlines and incurred a tax penalty.”
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Crichton, 64, is said to have accessed a web page called “Crime Bay by Chechen Mob” on the dark web, a hidden corner of the internet, in a bid to get revenge, Sky News reports.
The former doctor entered Bolden’s details on the site, which works like a bulletin board, and agreed to pay the equivalent of £3,800 in cyptocurrency bitcoin for his murder, Winchester Crown Court was told. Other options on the site reportedly include “beat the shit out of him”, “set his car on fire”, and “set his house on fire”.
Jones said officers from the National Crime Agency were monitoring dark web pages when they found Crichton’s order for the hit on Bolden, an Edinburgh-based advisor with private bank Brown Shipley.
As well as attempting to solicit murder, the ex-GP is also accused of sending three malicious communications that aimed to make Bolden fear Crichton would kill himself.
In February last year, the court heard, Crichton sent a text to the financial advisor that said: “I am contacting you out of desperation. I believe you are the only person who can help save my life. I have no wish to cause you problems. I am looking to help my family. I am sorry to sound dramatic I may only have a few days now.”
Crichton denies all four charges and claims he was “drunk and suicidal” when, weeks after allegedly sending that text, he put in the order for a hitman. There is no evidence to suggest that the offer was ever accepted.
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